SCHEDULE-CONTROLLED RESPONDING OF 2 PERSONS UNDER A SINGLE SCHEDULE OF REINFORCEMENT

In four experiments, dyad members made noncompetitive responses for a mutual reinforcer. Satisfying reinforcement requirements delivered a s ingle reinforcer (points) to both subjects as a team. The purpose of t his research was two-fold: First, to discover the degree to which indi vidual behavior is sensitive to team-like contingencies, and second, t o ask how the social context itself can modulate the effects of team-l ike contingencies on individual behavior. Variables manipulated includ ed fixed-ratio size, conjunctive reinforcement, reinforcer magnitude, and social context. Results showed that (1) individual subjects respon ded consistently in an alternating all-or-none pattern at lower FR val ues, (2) experimental contingencies embedded within the FR schedule ex erted powerful control over individual responding, (3) changes in the reinforcer magnitude also radically altered how each subject responded , and (4) changing the social context to not allow subjects to convers e did not significantly alter subjects' behavior. These results sugges t that team-like contingencies can control individual patterns of beha vior and that particular social aspects of the environment do not nece ssarily mediate individual behavior in such situations.