The Effects of Reinforcement and Punishment Magnitude on the Formation and Maintenance of Equivalence Classes.

Numerous studies have shown that simple discriminations are learned faster when punishment is used over positive reinforcement contingencies. However, to our knowledge, the use of punishment contingencies have not yet been investigated in the context of conditional discrimination training and equiva...

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Publicado en:Psychological Record Vol. 75; no. 3; pp. 435 - 451
Autores principales: Regaço, Alceu, Perez, William F., Camargo, Julio C., de Rose, Julio C., de Souza, Deisy G.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Sep2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Sep2025
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        atl: The Effects of Reinforcement and Punishment Magnitude on the Formation and Maintenance of Equivalence Classes.
      aug:
        au:
          Regaço, Alceu
          Perez, William F.
          Camargo, Julio C.
          de Rose, Julio C.
          de Souza, Deisy G.
        affil:
          https://ror.org/00qdc6m37 Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
          Paradigma—Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia do Comportamento, São Paulo, Brazil
          Instituto Nacional de Ciência E Tecnologia Sobre Comportamento, Cognição E Ensino, São Carlos, Brazil
      su:
        Reinforcement (Psychology)
        Punishment
        Learning
        Empirical research
        Reward (Psychology)
        Behaviorism (Psychology)
        Equivalence classes (Set theory)
      sug:
        subj:
          Reinforcement (Psychology)
          Punishment
          Learning
          Empirical research
          Reward (Psychology)
          Behaviorism (Psychology)
          Equivalence classes (Set theory)
      keyword:
        Magnitude
        Matching-to-sample
        Positive reinforcement
        Stimulus equivalence
        Magnitude
        Matching-to-sample
        Positive reinforcement
        Stimulus equivalence
      ab: Numerous studies have shown that simple discriminations are learned faster when punishment is used over positive reinforcement contingencies. However, to our knowledge, the use of punishment contingencies have not yet been investigated in the context of conditional discrimination training and equivalence class formation. This study aimed to assess the effects of different magnitudes of reinforcement and punishment on the formation and maintenance of equivalence classes. Fifty-six participants were assigned to three groups: More Reinforcement (MR), Balanced (B), and More Punishment (MP), differing in the number of points earned or lost for choosing the correct or incorrect comparison stimulus. Participants underwent relational training using a gamified matching-to-sample software and were tested for the emergence of three 3-member classes of abstract stimuli. After 7 days, participants were tested for the maintenance of the equivalence classes. The results revealed that a higher magnitude of punishment disrupted conditional discrimination learning and the emergence and maintenance of derived relations. The magnitude of the positive reinforcer did not affect participants' performance. This study highlights the need for new experimental studies exploring the effects of reinforcement and punishment on the formation and maintenance of equivalence classes.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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