Doolan, Kathleen

Bizo, Lewis

McEwan, James

2012

Previous research shows that reinforcement of variable responding will facilitate sequence learning in rats (Neuringer, Deiss & Olson, 2000) but may interfere with sequence learning in humans (Maes & van der Goot, 2006). The present study aimed to replicate and extend previous research by assessing the role of behavioral variability in the learning of difficult target sequences across 3 species: humans (n = 60), hens (n = 18) and possums (n = 6). Participants were randomly allocated to one of three experimental conditions (Control, Variable, Any). In the Control conditions sequences were only reinforced if they were the target sequence, in the Variability conditions sequences were concurrently reinforced on a Variable Interval 60-s schedule if the just entered sequence met a variability criterion, and in the Any condition sequences were concurrently reinforced on a Variable Interval 60-s schedule for any sequence entered. The results support previous findings with animals and humans; hens and possums were more likely to learn the target sequence in the Variability condition, and human participants were more likely to learn the target sequence in the Control condition. Possible explanations for differences between the performance of humans and animals on this task will be discussed.

Association for Behavior Analysis International 38th Annual Convention Program

https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/21183

Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI)

Reinforced Behavioral Variability and Sequence Learning Across Species

Conference Publication

Publication