Shaping of self-control behavior and temporal regulation

Abstract

Three experiments used procedures to increase the selection of larger, more delayed reinforcers over smaller immediate reinforcers and observed the consequences of training on fixed-interval schedule performance. Six infants from a previous experiment (Darcheville, Rivière, & Wearden, 1993) showed impulsivity under a self-control paradigm and presented high rates of responses under FI schedules. The first training (the same as Schweitzer & Sulzer-Azaroff, 1988) consisted in gradually increasing the duration of the delay to the larger reinforcer over many sessions. The second consisted of gradually increasing the delay of the smaller reinforcers. The third training comprised signaled FI schedules. The follow-up assessments found that infants who began showing impulsive behavior and a high rate of responses under FI schedules are likely to choose delayed reinforcers and to adjust their rates of response under FI schedules after training. Moreover, correlation between self-control behavior and temporal regulation was obtained each time.