Bicard, D. F., & Neef, N. A. (2002).
Effects of strategic versus tactical instructions on adaptation to changing contingencies in children with ADHD.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
35, 375-389.
This study examined the effects of two types of instructions on
the academic responding of 4 children with attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder. Tactical instructions specified how to
distribute responding between two concurrently available sets of
math problems associated with different variable-interval
schedules of reinforcement. Strategic instructions provided a
strategy to determine the best way to distribute responding.
Instruction conditions were counterbalanced in an ABAB/BABA
reversal design nested within a multiple baseline across
participants design. Experimental sessions consisted of a
learning session in which participants were provided with one
type of instruction, followed by a test session in which no
instruction was provided. The schedules of reinforcement were
subsequently reversed during test sessions. When learning and
test schedules were identical, the responding of all 4
participants closely matched the reinforcement schedules. When
tactical instructions were provided and schedules were
subsequently changed, responding often remained under the control
of the instructions. When strategic instructions were provided,
responding more quickly adapted to the changed contingencies.
Analysis of postsession verbal reports indicated correspondence
between the participants' verbal descriptions (whether accurate
or inaccurate) and their nonverbal patterns of responding.
DESCRIPTORS: _verbally controlled behavior, rules, attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, concurrent schedules,
instructions