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Delayed outcomes and rule-governed behavior among “noncompliant” and “compliant” boys: A replication and extension

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Abstract

The present research investigated the effects of verbal, contingency-specifying, stimuli on compliance among two groups of preschool-aged boys. Experiment 1 assessed the joint influence of prior compliance history and reinforcement parameters on compliance, and Experiment 2 explored the utility of distinguishing between the evocative and function-altering effects of verbal stimuli. Results from Experiment 1 showed that statements specifying a behavior and an outcome controlled similar levels of compliance in “compliant” and “noncompliant” boys under conditions of immediate reinforcement, but as the opportunity for reinforcement became more delayed (or nonexistent), the performance of “noncompliant” boys deteriorated. Results from Experiment 2 showed that statements specifying immediate and delayed reinforcers, but not statements specifying no reinforcer, controlled high levels of compliance in both compliant and noncompliant boys, even after a 15–20 minute delay in the opportunity to respond. These results suggest that rules, or contingency specifying stimuli with function-altering, rather than evocative effects, reliably control the behavior of boys as young as 4 or 5 years-old.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Louisiana State University, USA

    David Reitman

  2. University of Mississippi, USA

    Alan M. Gross

Authors
  1. David Reitman
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  2. Alan M. Gross
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Additional information

This paper is based on a dissertation submitted by the first author to the University of Mississippi in 1995, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a doctor of philosophy degree in clinical psychology. This study was supported in part by an APA dissertation award to the first author. We are grateful to Ronald Drabman, Erin Price, Lisa Koch, Elaine Goodman, Gloria Knight, Carole Dye, and the teachers, children, and staff of Briarwood Drive Baptist Preschool, Broadmoor Baptist Preschool, and Bramlett Elementary School. We also wish to thank Richard W. Malott, John Northrup, David C. Palmer, Henry D. Schlinger, and an anonymous reviewer for their valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

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Reitman, D., Gross, A.M. Delayed outcomes and rule-governed behavior among “noncompliant” and “compliant” boys: A replication and extension. Analysis Verbal Behav 13, 65–77 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392907

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392907

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