Level of satiation on social reinforcers and valence of the reinforcing agent as determinants of social reinforcer effectiveness
Abstract
In Session 1, the valence (reinforcing agent) manipulation, which consisted of showing 60 2nd grade boys a film that depicted E 1 as nice or mean, was performed by E 1. In Session 2, 3 days later, the relative satiation (social stimuli) manipulation was performed by E 2. The criterion task, administered by E 1, immediately followed the satiation manipulation. The positive valence condition resulted in longer playing times and faster initial performance on the criterion task. No such effects were found for the satiation variable. Neither valence no satiation manipulations had a significant effect on the change in rate measure of social reinforcer effectiveness. The relationship among the dependent measures and the failure to replicate earlier relative satiation findings are discussed. (18 ref.)