Resumen de Distribuição dos intervalos e taxa de reforço em múltiplo VI VI e resistência à extinção

Raquel Fernanda Ferreira Lacerda, Carla Jordão Suarez, Carlos Eduardo Costa

• English

  Experiments with non humans have found that response rates during the exposure to a multiple VI VI schedule tend to be higher in the component with higher reinforcement rates. Although some experiments with humans have replicated these results, other experiments have failed to do so. Several authors have stated that the differences in results between experiments with humans and non humans may be a function of variations in procedures between studies. In addition, several studies with non humans have demonstrated that, in multiple VI VI schedules, the higher the reinforcement rate in one of the components, the greater is the behavior’s resistance to change. The goal of the current experiment was to investigate whether different distributions of interreinforcer intervals (overlapping vs non overlapping intervals) and the proportional difference in reinforcement rate between components in a multiple VI VI (5:1 vs. 10:1) would affect the differentiation on the responses rate between the components and the resistance of the behavior to extinction. Twenty college students participated were distributed into four groups (G) exposed to the VI Condition followed by the EXT Condition. In the VI Condition, G1 and G3 participants were exposed to a multiple VI 10 s VI 50 s, and those in G2 and G4 to a multiple VI 10 s VI 100 s. For G1 and G2 participants, the VI intervals overlapped, and for G3 and G4 the VI interval did not overlap (i.e., the higher interval of VI 10 s was shorter than the lower interval in VI 50 s or VI 100 s). In EXT Condition, all participants were exposed to a multiple EXT EXT. The results suggested that neither the proportional difference in reinforcement rate nor the distribution of the intervals in the multiple VI VI contributed for the differentiation of response rate between components of the multiple schedule in VI Condition, nor for the higher resistance to extinction in the component with a higher rate of reinforcement. We discuss the use of extinction as a disrupting operation because, during extinction, the decrease in the reinforcement rate is necessarily greater in the component with a higher rate of reinforcement than in the component with a lower rate of reinforcement. Future research could investigate resistance to change with humans using other disrupting operations that affect both components more homogeneously. The investigation of the effects of response cost, either as physical effort or as the loss of points contingent on responding, in the differentiation of response rate and in resistance to change is suggested as a profitable line of research.

• português

  O objetivo foi investigar se diferentes distribuições dos intervalos entre reforços (intervalos sobrepostos vs. não sobrepostos) e a diferença proporcional da taxa de reforços entre componentes em um programa múltiplo VI VI (5:1 vs. 10:1) afetariam a diferenciação na taxa de respostas entre os componentes e a resistência do comportamento à extinção. Participaram 20 universitários distribuídos em quatro grupos (G) expostos a Condição VI seguida pela Condição Extinção. Na Condição VI, G1 e G3 foram expostos a um múltiplo VI 10 s VI 50 s e G2 e G4 a um múltiplo VI 10 s VI 100 s. Para G1 e G2 os intervalos do VI se sobrepunham. Para G3 e G4 os intervalos do VI não eram sobrepostos.

  Na Condição EXT, todos os participantes foram expostos a um múltiplo EXT EXT. Os resultados sugerem que, nem a diferença proporcional na taxa de reforço, nem a distribuição dos intervalos no múltiplo VI VI, contribuíram para a diferenciação nas taxas de respostas na Condição VI e para a maior resistência à extinção. Discute-se o uso da Extinção como evento perturbador e sugere-se a investigação do papel do custo da resposta na diferenciação das taxas de respostas e na resistência à mudança.