Abstract
128 humans (8 groups of 16 Ss) were used to test the efficacy of operations proposed for establishing a neutral stimulus (SN) as a secondary reinforcer (Sr) by the discriminative, eliciting, informational and contiguous stimulus hypotheses. Phase I was a factorial design composed of 2 levels of consistency of pairing SN with verbal reinforcement (experimental vs control Ss) and 4 treatments (SN presented as a discriminative stimulus vs as a trace vs as a forward vs as a backward conditional stimulus). In Phase II, SN was tested as an Sr in a verbal conditioning paradigm. The analyses showed that all treatments established SN as an Sr for the experimental Ss only, thus supporting the contiguous stimulus hypothesis. It was suggested that an Sr is a confirmational stimulus and that discriminative, eliciting, or informational stimuli be considered secondary motivators insofar as such stimuli control emission of an operant.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
