EFFECT OF ELECTRIC SHOCK AS A REINFORCER OF THE BEHAVIOR OF CHILDREN

Three rote-learning tasks were administered to 180 children. Reinforcement was given either on right responses or on wrong responses and consisted either of the words “right” or “wrong,” a 400-cps tone, or an electric shock. Each task was given either in a long or a short form and was always run to 12 trials. No significant effect was found for reinforcement mode. Significantly more learning occurred when the feedback was contingent on a wrong response than on a right response.