Variação induzida por quebra da relação de contingência: efeitos de regras e da suspensão do reforçamento

Abstract

The study of the selective function of reinforcement has been prevailing in studies about operant behavior and just recently in the behavioral variation, a condition without which the selective function of the reinforcement doesn't have as operating, it has started to be more studied experimental and conceptually. These studies are divided into studies about the operant variation and about the induced variation, either by reinforcing schemes or by processes of extinction. Previously to this research line about the behavioral variation that has developed during the last 40 years the study of verbal controlled behavior commonly called Rule-governed behavior. The studies about the verbal controlled behavior have focused in the relations with the behavior modeled by the contingencies. Thus, the present study aimed to unify the phenomena of variation induced by a break in relation of contingency with the phenomena of verbal controlled behavior. The objective of the present study was to verify if the supply of a rule to describe of complete way and another that described of incomplete way, to the appropriate place for the obtaining the reinforcer for the duration of a continuous reinforcement schedule could reduce the variation in location of answers observed immediately after the break of the contingency. In this research, the participants were four college students of both sexes. Among the four participants, two received a complete rule and two an incomplete rule. The variation in the dimension place was measured while simple frequency of answers in one of the two halves of a straight line in the screen of a computer. The obtained results suggest that the supply of a complete rule, which describes precisely the place for obtaining reinforcer in a condition of continuous reinforcement; it reduces the variation in location of the answers observed after the break of the contingency relation. Compared participants who received an incomplete or general rule, provided continuous reinforcement they showed greater variation in location of the answers after the break of the contingency relation.