ERIC Number: ED159591
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1976-Feb
Pages: 17
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Effect of Contingent Reinforcement on the Acquisition of Sight Vocabulary. Technical Report No. 49.
Brandt, Mary E.; And Others
The present study is a replication of a Lahey and Drabman study (1974) which investigated the effects of contingent versus noncontingent reinforcement on the learning of sight words. The subjects in this study were 14 Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) students who composed the lowest reading group in a combined first-second grade classroom. Previous research had shown contingent reinforcement to be effective with slow learners. However, contrary to Lahey and Drabman's findings, no differences were found between the group receiving contingent (token) reinforcement and the group receiving noncontingent reinforcement (no token). The results are explained in terms of the reinforcement histories of the children. That is, previous experience with reinforcement may have faciliated generalization of learning behavior to the task for both groups, and/or the noncontingent reward group interpreted the reward to be contingent on their performance. (Author)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu, HI. Kamehameha Early Education Project.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A