Behavioral resistance as function of different levels of instruction completeness

Abstract

The present study examined the effects of different levels of instruction completeness on the behavioral persistence of humans engaged in a computer task. Five undergraduate students responded in a three-component multiple schedule of reinforcement during baseline. In two components, responses produced points according to a fixed-interval (FI) 5 s schedule of reinforcement. In the third component, extinction was programmed, and no instruction was available (No-Instruction Component - NI). The complete instruction "Press once every 5 seconds to earn points" appeared on the computer screen during one FI component (Complete-Instruction Component – CI), and the minimal instruction "Press to earn points" appeared on the computer screen during the other FI component (Minimal-Instruction Component – MI). The reinforcement rate was equal between the FI components. Increases in response force disturbed responding during test relative to baseline. Overall, greater persistence occurred in the component correlated with the complete instruction (i.e., CI component), suggesting that different levels of instruction completeness can differentially affect behavioral persistence when the reinforcement rate is held constant.