Jeffrey H. Tiger and Gregory P. Hanley (2005).
An example of discovery research involving the transfer of stimulus control.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
38, 499-509.
The initial purpose of the present study was to replicate procedures for
teaching preschool children to recruit attention at appropriate times by
having an experimenter signal the availability and unavailability of
attention (i.e., arrange a multiple schedule involving reinforcement
and extinction; Tiger & Hanley, 2004). Following the development of
discriminated social responding, the schedule-correlated stimuli were
removed (i.e., a mixed schedule of reinforcement was arranged).
However, discriminated responding continued during these conditions.
Further evaluation suggested that stimulus control over children’s
social responding had transferred from the schedule-correlated stimuli
to the delivery of reinforcement. The effect of a history of
reinforcement under multiple-schedule conditions on performance
under mixed schedules was then replicated with 2 participants in
a reversal design. These findings suggest that following experience
with schedule-correlated stimuli, these stimuli may be removed with
only modest disruption to discriminated responding.
DESCRIPTORS: discovery research, mixed schedules, multiple schedules, preschoolers, rules, social behavior, stimulus control, teacher attention