Interação em Psicologia (Dec 2007)

The effects of programmed consequences on rule-following

  • Carla Cristina Paiva Paracampo,
  • Luiz Carlos de Albuquerque,
  • Andréa Fonseca Farias,
  • Bruna Nogueira Carvalló,
  • Ana Rachel Pinto

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5380/psi.v11i2.7850
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 2

Abstract

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In an investigation of variables responsible for rule-following, 16 children were exposed to a matching-to-sample procedure. The task involved touching the comparison stimuli when a light came on. In Phase 1, the behavior was established by a rule. In Phase 2, the contingencies in Phase 1 were reversed, re-established in Phase 3 and repeated again in Phase 4. The conditions differed with regard to the nature of the programmed consequences. Rule-following tended to cease in the presence of a tone or the word “Wrong”, and was maintained when candy or praise (“Correct”) ceased. These results extend the suggested generality that the probability of ceasing rule-following increases when it produces aversive consequences rather than others, and indicates that the maintenance of the behavior depends, in part, on the type of consequence encountered. Keywords: rule-following; type of consequences; nature of consequences.

Keywords