Partial Reinforcement Effect Paper
302 Lab Sergent
Partial Reinforcement Effect Paper (50 points)
The Partial Reinforcement Effect (PRE) is also known as the Partial Reinforcement Extinction Effect (PREE). These two terms (plus “resistance to extinctionâ€) should be effective search terms for you in gathering enough reference material for your paper. Regardless of whose lecture section you have or have had, there should be some information in your textbook about this effect. This can be your starting point, but you will also need to look for more information in order to sufficiently expand on the topic.
In brief, the PRE, or PREE, is where it takes longer to extinguish a response that has been reinforced on a partial or intermittent schedule of reinforcement (PRF) than on continuous reinforcement (CRF). In sniffy Assignment 1 (CRF), 2 (PRF-Fixed Interval) and 3 (PRF-Variable Ratio), you have gotten some experience of this in action and can see for yourself why it is unwise to ever reinforce a behavior in yourself or another that you would like to eliminate.
Practical Issues:
1. While you will be using reference materials from a variety of sources, you MUST write using your own words. Use no more than a brief sentence or two of quotation from other authors, if at all. If you use another author’s words, they must be enclosed in quotation marks as well as including the appropriate citation and page number from the source. Use APA-style citation for the source of the ideas and information in the text of your paper. Include a separate reference page.
2. You will submit an electronic version of your page through Tunitin.com (I will provide a link in TITANium for you to do this). You will then turn in a hard copy of your data analysis in the class. It must show your work whether it was done in Excel, SPSS, or by hand. We need to be able to tell that you did this work (as required by the department - see your syllabus) and that you did not just copy the outcome from someone else.
3. The paper, including title page, body of the paper, and references page should be 6-8 pages in length.
4. You will print out the Sniffy Cumulative Record for extinction under CRF, extinction under PRF-F1 and also extinction under PRF-VR. Only print out these sections, NOT all the cumulative records which are available to you for each of these files. These will be used to help with your written observations and provide documentation of your results. You have a due date separate from the the paper to turn these in. You will analyze the data collected from the entire class to see if there are significant differences in the rates of extinction from CRF, F1-25 and VR-25. You will receive the data for your statistical analysis in a separate handout.
5. The whole of the paper should be APA-style. Failure to do so will result in significant loss of points. Writing style, APA-format, organization, grammar and spelling count. (approximately 25% of the credit)
6. The introduction, Method, and Results sections of the paper account for approximately 50% of the credit. The discussion should account for the remaining 25% of the credit (approximately).
Paper Sections
Title Page:
Should be proper APA-style.
Introduction:
This section should begin with the title of your paper (NOT the word “Introductionâ€).
You will begin with a brief description and definition of the PRE (PREE). Make predictions with regard to the relative rates of extinction from the three schedules.
Method:
There is no participants section (we had no participants!).
Use a combined Equipment and Procedure section. Briefly describe (2 to 4 or 5 sentences, at most for each schedule) the procedure undertaken to train Sniffy, take him to extinction for each of the three levels or conditions of this study (CRF, then extinction; FI25, then extinction, VR25, then extinction). What was the criterion for extinction each time (i.e., say this only once as it applies to all conditions/levels).
Describe the experimental design of the study. How many independent variables were there? How many levels? How many dependent variables were there? How many statistical tests were done (include what kind of tests) and what did they compare – for which dependent variable? Report your -level (it should be 0.05)?
Results:
For each comparison and statistical test listed below, describe the results of your statistical tests for each dependent variable. Which mean was greater for each dependent variable? Was the difference statistically significant? Include the test statistics, df, and p-value if you have done the statistical tests via computer. If the t-tests were computed by hand, include the critical values used. (Don’t explain why yet – that is part of the Discussion section).
First, describe what you observed of Sniffy’s behavior under extinction, first under CRF. That is, what were the mean and standard deviation of the number bar presses (DV 1) until extinction took place. (Do this for only the first extinction phase and not the second after a time out and spontaneous recovery). Compare this to the mean and standard deviation of the number of bar-presses for extinction under F1-25. What was the outcome of the statistical tests of the difference in the mean number of bar-presses between CRF and F1-25? Which schedule of reinforcement produced the greater number of bar-presses until extinction was reached?
Second, what were the mean and standard deviation of the number of bar-presses until extinction from VR-25? What was the outcome of the statistical tests of the difference in the mean number of bar-presses between CRF and VR-25? Which schedule of reinforcement produced the greatest number of bar-presses until extinction was reached?
Third, do a t-test comparing the difference in the mean number of bar-presses until extinction between F1-25 and VR-25? What was the outcome of the statistical test of the difference in the mean number of bar-presses between Fi-25 and VR-25? Which schedule of reinforcement produced the greater number of bar-presses until extinction was reached?
Do the same set of comparisons and statistical tests for the second DV- the mean number of minutes to achieve extinction. At the end, you should have reported six statistical test results (three for each dependent variable).
Discussion:
Was the PREE observed in the outcome of our study? What schedule of reinforcement produced bar-pressing behavior that extinguished most quickly – report for both mean number of bar-presses and the amount of time required for extinction. What schedule of reinforcement produced the greatest resistance to extinction as measure by mean number of bar-presses and by amount of time to reach the extinction criterion? Explain why! Each schedule of reinforcement produced a particular kind of expectation of what was required for reinforcement. How did the expectation affect the rate of extinction? Explain specifically. Elaborate.
There is more than one theoretical explanation for why the PRE (or PREE) occurs. (The major theories are: Ansel’s Frustration Hypothesis, Capaldi’s Sequential Hypothesis, and the Discrimination Hypothesis.) Find and discuss two of them. Your textbook MAY mention several. However, it likely does NOT include enough information, by itself, to enable to adequately write this section. Look these theories/hypotheses up. Do you prefer the explanatory power of one over the other? Why? Explain (use a bit of elaboration, please – there should be enough explanation that your mother, whom I presume knows nothing about this topic, should understand. Think mechanics; don’t just throw words around that you really don’t understand either). You may Google the references for this. This is one instance where looking for research articles will not help you do your job, but will only make things infinitely harder. There are reliable sources available on the net. Any sources you use should be cited in the text and then listed on the References page.