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An Evaluation of Participant Payment Arrangements
Bach, Sheridan
Bach, Sheridan
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Abstract
Reinforcer assessments like progressive ratio schedules of reinforcement can be useful in identifying which stimuli function as reinforcers. The purpose of the present human operant study was to examine the potency of points exchangeable for money, extra credit, or nothing using breakpoints, or the time at which a participant stopped responding for 3 min or clicked the “all done” button, when responding on progressive ratio schedules within a computer program model. Results showed points exchangeable for money were a more potent reinforcer for one participant, points exchangeable for extra credit were a more potent reinforcer for three participants, and both were about equally as potent for five participants. Extra credit being a highly potent reinforcer for eight out of nine participants could be due to the study being conducted at the end of the semester (Galizio & Buskist, 1988). Future researchers could replicate this study at a different point in the semester to see how time in the semester could impact the potency of the different reinforcers. These results are important because they show that both money and extra credit can be effective reinforcers depending on the individual, which have implications for human operant researchers who intend to use money or extra credit as reinforcers within their studies.
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2025-8-31
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University of Kansas
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Bach_ku_0099M_20198.pdf
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Keywords
Behavioral sciences, extra credit, money, points, progressive ratio, reinforcer assessment, reinforcer potency