Preference for unreliable reinforcement in children with mental retardation: The role of conditioned reinforcement

We examined the effects of conditioned reinforcement on children's choice b etween reliable (100%) and unreliable (50%) reinforcement under various sti mulus conditions in a concurrent-chains procedure. The study was conducted across three experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 were conducted under conditio ns similar to basic laboratory work and consisted of participants selecting from one of two black boxes (placed on a table) that were correlated with different reinforcement schedules. In Experiment 3, we assessed a participa nt's preference for unreliable reinforcement during conditions in which the target responses were aggression and mands. Results of the three experimen ts showed that the participants preferred unreliable reinforcement under ce rtain conditions. Findings are discussed regarding the role of specific sti muli (i.e., items correlated with a reinforcement schedule, adult reactions ) as conditioned reinforcers and how they may influence children's preferen ce for a response (e.g., aggression, self-injury) that produces reinforceme nt on a leaner schedule than a socially desirable response (e.g., mands).