Resumen de Efeitos de dimensões do reforço e da resposta em um treino de autocontrole

Amanda Raña Ferreira, Emmanuel Zagury Tourinho

• English

  In this study, dimensions of reinforcement (rate, delay, quality) and response (response effort) were manipulated in a self-control training procedure combined with a gradual change in reinforcement delay. Eight subjects (12-13 years old) with no diagnosis of developmental disorder were exposed to two concurrent schedules of reinforcement in four stages: assessment of the task`s level of difficulty, baseline, training, and permanence assessment. A math problem database was created for each participant. Such database was used both as a response effort measure and as a task to be chosen in a two-choice situation in the others stages. Each session in the subsequent stages were composed by a choice response and a solution response. During the baseline one dimension was manipulated in each session and that was an attempt to assess the preferred value of the dimension for all the participants.

  Then, the dimensions were placed in direct competition in order to observe the preference between their favorable values (e.g., one schedule associated with low response effort and high quality and the other schedule associated with high response effort and low quality). The results indicate that when two dimensions competed directly (e.g., rate vs. quality), the responses were controlled primarily by reinforce quality (six subjects). One subject preferred the reinforcement rate dimension while another subject preferred the response effort dimension. Four subjects presented impulsive behavior at the beginning of the procedure and went through full self-control training, whereas the others did not present impulsivity, going through maintenance procedure. During the self-control training, a direct competition was presented between the previously preferred dimension and delay. The delay associated with the schedule named as self-control choice (e.g., high delay and high quality) was progressively increased up to he higher delay (five days) as the participant reached a stability criterion in each session (80% of choices allocated in the self-control schedule). In the maintenance stage, a gradual change in the delay was not manipulated. The delay manipulated was five days during all the sessions.

  The preferred dimension was first manipulated, and the other two dimensions were manipulated in the last sessions. The first group presented self-controlled responses by the end of the training period.

  In the permanence assessment stage and in the last maintenance sessions, the subjects were exposed to direct competition between the delay dimension and the two other dimensions not manipulated before. Four participants presented impulsive behavior when delay competed with effort, but not with quality or reinforcement rate. Overall, the results indicate that the stability of self-control repertoires was conditioned to specific reinforcement or response dimensions, and not for all of then.

• português

  Neste estudo, foram manipuladas dimensões do reforço (taxa, atraso e qualidade) e da resposta (custo da resposta) em um procedimento de treino de autocontrole com atraso progressivo do reforço.

  Oito participantes foram expostos a esquemas de reforçamento concorrentes, ao longo de 4 etapas:

  avaliação do nível de dificuldade da tarefa, linha de base, treino ou manutenção e avaliação de permanência.

  Os resultados indicaram que quando em condições com manipulação de duas dimensões apenas, as respostas foram controladas principalmente pela qualidade (6 participantes). A taxa e o custo da resposta controlaram prioritariamente para um participante cada. Quatro participantes emitiram respostas impulsivas no começo do procedimento e foram expostos ao treino, enquanto os outros, que não apresentaram impulsividade, foram expostos ao procedimento de manutenção. Ao final do treino, o primeiro grupo apresentou autocontrole. Na fase de avaliação de permanência todos os participantes foram expostos às condições com manipulação entre o atraso e as duas dimensões não manipuladas no treino/manutenção. Quatro participantes apresentaram comportamento impulsivo quando o atraso competiu com custo da resposta, mas não com qualidade ou taxa. De modo geral, os resultados indicam que a estabilidade do autocontrole foi condicional a dimensões específicas do reforço ou da resposta.