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An evaluation of praise as a reinforcer for preschoolers' behavior.

Authors :
Senn LP
Bayles MW
Bruzek JL
Source :
Journal of applied behavior analysis [J Appl Behav Anal] 2020 Jan; Vol. 53 (1), pp. 315-330. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Jun 20.
Publication Year :
2020

Abstract

Behavior analysts and educators often recommend using praise, particularly descriptive praise, despite mixed empirical findings to support this recommendation. We evaluated the effectiveness of praise as a reinforcer during a reinforcer assessment using known tasks with preschoolers in Experiment 1. Praise functioned as a reinforcer for 2 of 6 participants; the remaining 4 participants required additional reinforcers (edibles) to show a reinforcement effect. We then compared the effectiveness of descriptive versus general praise for acquisition of unknown tacts and assessed participants' preference for the different types of praise for 4 participants from Experiment 1. Results are discussed within the context of the importance of determining individual efficacy and preference for praise.<br /> (© 2019 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1938-3703
Volume :
53
Issue :
1
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Journal of applied behavior analysis
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
31219190
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.591