Jay W. Harding, David P. Wacker, Wendy K. Berg, Gary Rick, & John F. Lee (2004).
Promoting response variability and stimulus generalization in martial arts training.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
37, 185-196.
The effects of reinforcement and extinction on response variability
and stimulus generalization in the punching and kicking techniques of
2 martial arts students were evaluated across drill and sparring
conditions. During both conditions, the students were asked to demonstrate
different techniques in response to an instructor's punching attack. During
baseline, the students received no feedback on their responses in either
condition. During the intervention phase, the students received differential
reinforcement in the form of instructor feedback for each different punching
or kicking technique they performed during a session of the drill condition,
but no reinforcement was provided for techniques in the sparring condition.
Results showed that both students increased the number of different techniques
they performed when reinforcement and extinction procedures were
conducted during the drill condition, and that this increase in response
variability generalized to the sparring condition.
DESCRIPTORS: extinction, martial arts, response variability, stimulus generalization