Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Fixed-interval performance and self-control in children.

J C Darcheville1, V Rivière, J H Wearden

  • 1Université Charles de Gaulle, Lille.

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|March 1, 1992
PubMed
Summary

Children

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Verbal estimation of the magnitude of time, number, and length.

Psychological research·2020
Same author

What speeds up the internal clock? Effects of clicks and flicker on duration judgements and reaction time.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2016
Same author

Passage of time judgements.

Consciousness and cognition·2015
Same author

Cognitive abilities required in time judgment depending on the temporal tasks used: A comparison of children and adults.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2015
Same author

'Subjective lengthening' during repeated testing of a simple temporal discrimination.

Behavioural processes·2014
Same author

Speeding up and (…relatively…) slowing down an internal clock in humans.

Behavioural processes·2014

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Psychology
  • Child Development

Background:

  • Operant conditioning principles are fundamental to understanding behavior.
  • Self-control and impulsivity in children are critical areas of developmental research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between choice behavior in a self-control paradigm and performance on fixed-interval schedules in children.
  • To explore individual differences in delay discounting and reinforcement schedules.

Main Methods:

  • 16 children (mean age 6 years) participated in operant conditioning tasks.
  • Fixed-interval schedules with varying reinforcer durations and intervals were used.
  • A self-control paradigm involved choices between immediate and delayed cartoon reinforcers of varying durations.

Main Results:

  • Individual differences in self-control choices predicted fixed-interval performance.
  • Children choosing immediate, smaller reinforcers (impulsive) showed high, stable response rates and short postreinforcement pauses.
  • Children choosing larger, delayed reinforcers (self-controlled) exhibited lower, systematically varying response rates and long postreinforcement pauses.

Conclusions:

  • Behavioral patterns in self-control choices directly correlate with performance under fixed-interval schedules in children.
  • This study highlights the predictive power of self-control paradigms for understanding operant behavior in young children.

Related Experiment Videos