Operant Behavior Under a Falsely Perceived Response-Reinforcement Contingency

Abstract

Subjects were given the task of learning which of five buttons to press in order to communicate a "correct" response to a "student" in an adjoining room. Contingent subjects received contingent reinforcement for pressing the correct button and Yoked subjects received noncontingent reinforcement. Contingent subjects learned the correct response very quickly and Yoked subjects never learned the correct response. However, Yoked subjects attributed as much teaching success and teaching ability to themselves as did Contingent subjects. Yoked subjects also emitted as many button-press responses as Contingent subjects. It appeared that button-press responses of Yoked subjects were maintained with a falsely perceived response-reinforcement contingency.