Effects of vibratory, edible, and social reinforcement on performance of institutionalized mentally retarded individuals
Ottenbacher, K.; Altman, R.
American Journal of Mental Deficiency 89(2): 201-204
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-9351 PMID: 6486186 Document Number: 230888
The relative effectiveness of verbal praise, vibration, and edible reward as methods of enhancing and maintaining performance on a perceptual-motor task was investigated. Sixty-six mentally retarded students were divided into high- and low-MA groups and randomly assigned to reinforcement conditions. Data analysis revealed that response rates for the low-MA students in the verbal condition reinforcement and the nonreinforcement phases were significantly lower than the response rates for the low-MA students in any phase of the edible or vibratory conditions. No significant difference in reinforcer effectiveness was observed across various phases for students in the high-MA groups.