Noncontingent reinforcement: Effects of satiation versus choice responding

Recent research findings suggest that the initial reductive effects of nonc ontingent reinforcement (NCR) schedules on destructive behavior result from the establishing effects of an antecedent stimulus (i.e., the availability of "free" reinforcement) rather than extinction. A number of authors have suggested that these antecedent effects result primarily from reinforcer sa tiation, but an alternative hypothesis is that the individual attempts to a ccess contingent reinforcement primarily when noncontingent reinforcement i s unavailable, but chooses not to access contingent reinforcement when nonc ontingent reinforcement is available. If the satiation hypothesis is more a ccurate, then the reductive effects of NCR should increase over the course of a session especially for denser schedules of NCR, and should occur durin g both NCR delivery and the NCR inter-reinforcement interval (NCR IRI). If the choice hypothesis is more accurate, then the reductive effects of NCR s hould be relatively constant over the course of a session for both denser a nd leaner schedules of NCR and should occur almost exclusively during the N CR interval (rather than the NCR IRI). To evaluate these hypotheses, we exa mined within-session trends of destructive behavior with denser and leaner schedules of NCR (without extinction), and also measured responding in the NCR interval separate from responding in the NCR IRI. Reductions in destruc tive behavior were mostly due to the participants choosing not to access co ntingent reinforcement when NCR was being delivered and only minimally due to reinforcer satiation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.