The effectiveness of and preschoolers' preferences for variations of multiple-schedule arrangements

Multiple schedules of reinforcement have been demonstrated to be effective for thinning schedules of adult attention for children's social initiations. This procedure involves alternating continuous reinforcement (CRF) periods with periods of extinction, and correlating each period with a distinct and continuous discriminative stimulus. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of several multiple-schedule variations as well as preschooler's preferences for each. Study 1 compared multiple-schedules in which (a) two different stimuli, one correlated with reinforcement (S+) and another correlated with extinction (S-), were presented, or (b) only an S+ was presented (i.e., no stimulus was correlated with extinction). Both arrangements were similarly effective for 7 children, but 3 preferred the S+/S- condition while 4 preferred the S+ condition. Children who responded more effectively given the S- (discrimination indices were relatively high) preferred the S+/S- condition, whereas children who were less effective given the S-preferred the S+ condition. In study 2, the impact of errorless and error-prone histories on these same measures was evaluated. The results showed that preference for S+/S- was dependent on an errorless learning history and provided further support that extinction-responding established the S- as aversive. These same multiple schedules were then evaluated with 4 preschoolers in Study 3, except the discriminative stimuli were presented only briefly. Results showed that brief signals were effective discriminative stimuli, continuous signals were necessary to minimize extinction responding for one child, and all children preferred S+/S- to the S+ arrangement when signals were brief. The implications of these findings for thinning reinforcement schedules for social responses are discussed.