Sensitivity to changing contingencies: A function of personality dispositions and instructions

Abstract

This study examined the effects of personality dispositions and instructions on subjects' sensitivity to changing contingencies on a multiple schedule. Based on a screening test, 24 subjects who scored high on a personality dimension, "Rigidity," and 24 who scored low were selected. All subjects were exposed to a multiple DRL4"/FRI8 schedule. One half of the high and low scorers on "Rigidity" received accurate instructions about the schedule, the other half received minimal instructions. After two sessions of reinforcement, the schedule was surreptitiousley switched to extinction. The results showed that schedule sensitivity was affected by both the subjects' personality dispositions and the instructions. Subjects who scored high on "Rigidity" showed significantly less sensitivity to the changing contingencies than those who scored low on "Rigidity." In addition, those who had received accurate instructions, when compared to minimal instructions, showed less sensitivity to the change in contingencies, which suggests that instructed performance mimics schedule control but is, in fact, rule-governed. This study provides evidence for the usefulness of assessing "personality dispositions" when studying human behavior in the operant lab. The pre-established behavioral repertoires people bring to the situation deserve to be taken into consideration because they can neither easily be controlled nor eliminated, and they interact significantly with the independent variables manipulated by the experimenter.