Delay to reinforcement: an evaluation of skill acquisition

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2013

First Committee Member

Bourret, Jason

Second Committee Member

Dickson, Chata

Third Committee Member

Thompson, Rachel

Abstract

"Although delay to reinforcement has been the subject of significant research, little applied research has been conducted to determine if delay to reinforcement results in a decrease in the rate of skill acquisition in children with intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of delay to reinforcement on the rate of acquisition of skills in children diagnosed with autism. Initially a reinforcer assessment, designed to determine if the consequence for accurate responding in the participants’ school setting, functioned as a reinforcer. Secondly, descriptive data were collected on the delays between student responses and teacher delivery of reinforcement. Lastly, the effects of the delays obtained in the descriptive analysis were experimentally analyzed on response acquisition. Results indicated that for one participant a delay to reinforcement of 8-s produced the fastest acquisition rates. For another participant immediate reinforcement produced the fastest acquisition rates and for the third participant all 3 delays produce comparable acquisition rates."

This document is available upon request to Western New England University faculty, students, and staff. Please contact D'Amour Library at for access.

Share

COinS