Amanda L. Lannie & Brian K. Martens (2004).
Effects of task difficulty and type of contingency on students’ allocation of responding to math worksheets.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
37, 53-65.
This study investigated students’
allocation of responding as a function of task difficulty and type of reinforcement contingency (i.e.,
accuracy based or time based). Four regular education fourth-grade students were presented with two
identical stacks of easy and then difficult math worksheets using a reversal design. Regardless of
condition, completing problems from each stack of worksheets was reinforced according to a
different contingency; one required correct completion of math problems (accuracy based) and one
required on-task behavior (time based). Results suggested that 3 of the 4 students preferred the
accuracy-based contingency when given easy material and the time-based contingency when given
difficult material. One student allocated more responding to the accuracy-based contingency when
given easy problems but did not show a clear preference for either contingency with difficult
problems. The implications of these findings for designing reinforcement-based programs for tasks
of varying difficulty are discussed.
DESCRIPTORS: academic behavior, reinforcement contingency, task difficulty, response
allocation