Verbal Conditioning with Verbal and Monetary Reinforcers

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of verbal and monetary reinforcers on the verbal behavior of 44 college females. Ss were instructed to “say words.” After each block of responses, a light went on as a signal for S to write down her “thoughts” about the experiment. No reinforcement was given during the first two word-blocks; on Blocks 3–9, Ss were reinforced with “Mmm-hmm” for each human noun response; on Blocks 10–12 they were reinforced with both “Mmm-hmm” and a nickel for each human noun. Only Ss who recorded a correct response-reinforcement contingency during conditioning showed performance gains, and these first occurred on the word-block on which they recorded the contingency. The introduction of nickels on Block 10 had no systematic effect on Ss' performance. These findings were discussed with respect to the influence of cognitive and motivational factors on performance in verbal conditioning.