Superstitious Behavior in Multiple Schedules: a Study About Interaction Among Verbal Behavior and Behavior Maintained by Accidental Relationship with Reinforcement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5380/psi.v12i1.8699Keywords:
superstitious behavior, contiguity, instructions, verbal behaviorAbstract
The interaction between “superstitious” behavior and verbal behavior was evaluated in three experiments. The participants received different instructions suggesting that responses could score points. In experimental sessions, a rectangle’s color on the computer screen indicated a situation of point presentarion regardless of the participant’s responses or another situation in which the points could not be presented (mult VT 8 s EXT). At the end of each session, participants had to describe what they were doing. In three experiments, only a few participants developed “superstitious” behavior, regardless of the kind of instruction presented at the beginning of the session. At the end of the sessions, participants described their own behavior. The results indicate that the non verbal performance of the participants controlled their self-assessment and that the very contingencies of multiple schemes were responsible for the “superstitious” behavior, more than self-assessment or instructions.
Keywords: "superstitious" behavior; contiguity; instructions; verbal behavior.
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