Abstract
This study compared the effects of extinction schedules on instrumental responses following conditioning in which schedules of neutral stimulus and reward presentation were varied. Using a spinwheel game, children received candy reward when the pointer stopped on their “pay-off” stimulus. In a factorial design Groups A and C received 100% reward; Groups B and D received 50% reward. Groups A and B saw only pay-off stimuli; Groups C and D saw half pay-off and half non-pay-off stimuli. Results indicated that verbal evaluation of the pay-off stimulus did not show a significant decrease during the extinction period. In contrast the instrumental response decreased markedly during the extinction period. The groups presented with 50% pay-off stimuli had significantly higher verbal evaluation scores on the final acquisition measure and made more instrumental responses during extinction than did the 100% groups.
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