The Role of Antecedent Positive and Negative Comments in the Control of Children's Behavior

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REDD, WILLIAM H., and WINSTON, ANDREW S. The Role of Antecedent Positive and Negative Comments in the Control of Children's Behavior. CmLD DEVELOPMENT, 1974, 45, 540-546. The relative effectiveness of positive and negative adult preference statements in controlling children's behavior was studied using an ABA reversal design. During daily sessions each of 3 4-year-old boys first watched a male assistant play a 2-choice discrimination game and then played the game himself. While the child watched from behind a 1-way vision screen, an adult experimenter made comments to the child regarding the assistant's behavior. During positive conditions the adult made positive comments (e.g., I like it, he pulled W) when one response was emitted and neutral comments (e.g., He pulled X) when the other was made. During negative conditions, negative (e.g., I don't like it, he pulled Y) and neutral comments were made by the adult. After the assistant left, the child played while the adult watched but said nothing. Using a discrete trials procedure, the child made successive choices between the 2 responses. In all cases compliance was greater when the adult used negative preference statements. That is, the adult's antecedent negative comments exerted greater control of the children's behavior than did positive comments. Compliance with antecedent negative comments remained high even in the case of 1 subject who was differentially reinforced for noncompliant responding.