Shifting Differentiation and its Implications for the Response Concept

Résumé 0

"This study extended a past experiment on shifting differential reinforcement to a simplegame-like task with human participants and followed through the distinction betweenresponses and deeds in analyzing the resulting data. 6 college students worked on acomputer-presented task in which button depressions changed a display of icons, providedthe cursor was within the target location on the computer screen. The target locationchanged in a predictable direction but an unpredictable distance after every 15 iconchanges. Data analysis related changes in the ratio of icon changes relative to buttondepressions to (a) cursor relocations after a failure to change the icons, (b) locationrepetitions after a success, (c) relocations after a failure that moved towards the targetlocation, and (d) distances traversed by relocations. These components of successfulperformance became increasingly present as ratios of icon changes relative to buttondepressions increased. The paper concludes by relating an apparently anomalous aspectof the findings to the distinction between responses and deeds."