Abstract
28 5- and 7-yr.-old children were reinforced for key pressing according to a DRL (differential reinforcement of low rates) 5-sec. schedule of reinforcement. For half of the subjects in each age group collateral keys were accessible for use during resting. Results indicated that the 5-yr.-old children acquired significantly fewer reinforcements, were less efficient, and developed less precise temporal discriminations than the 7-yr.-old children. Use of collateral keypressing was more important in moderating DRL performance in 5-yr.-old children than in 7-yr.-olds. Differences were also found in the manner in which the two age groups mediated temporally spaced responses when no programmed opportunities for collateral keypressing were provided.
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