How does the non-contingent delivery of a reinforcer produce accidental or superstitious learning? In other words, when a reinforcer is delivered according to a specific time and NOT based on any specific behavior (such as in NCR or DRO), what can happen to the learners behavior?
When a reinforcer is delivered non-contingently, meaning it is provided according to a specific time schedule rather than being contingent upon a specific behavior, it can lead to accidental or superstitious learning. Here’s how:
1. **Accidental Learning**: Learners may accidentally associate the delivery of the reinforcer with whatever behavior they happened to be engaging in at the moment it was delivered. For example, if a teacher gives praise every 5 minutes regardless of what the student is doing, the student might start to think that whatever they were doing right before the praise must be what earned the praise.
2. **Superstitious Learning**: This occurs when learners develop false beliefs that their actions are causing the reinforcer, even though the reinforcement is actually occurring on a fixed schedule. For instance, if a child receives a treat every 10 minutes regardless of their behavior, they might falsely attribute receiving the treat to a particular action they performed just before the treat was given, such as spinning in a circle or touching their nose.
In both cases, the reinforcement is not contingent upon the specific behavior being reinforced. As a result, learners may start to engage in behaviors that are not actually effective in obtaining the reinforcer, leading to superstitious behaviors. This phenomenon was famously observed in B.F. Skinner’s experiments with pigeons, where pigeons developed odd, repetitive behaviors because food was dispensed at regular intervals regardless of their actions. Therefore, while non-contingent reinforcement can sometimes be used strategically in behavior modification, such as in differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO), it can also inadvertently reinforce unintended behaviors through accidental or superstitious learning.
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