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Related Experiment Videos

Superstitious behavior in humans.

K Ono

    Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
    |May 1, 1987
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    This study explored how reinforcers affect behavior without a direct link. While some participants developed superstitious behaviors, it wasn't a universal outcome in this human operant conditioning experiment.

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    Area of Science:

    • Behavioral Psychology
    • Operant Conditioning
    • Human Behavior

    Background:

    • Response-independent schedules of reinforcement can influence behavior.
    • Understanding the conditions under which superstitious behavior emerges is crucial in behavioral science.
    • Previous research has primarily focused on animal models.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate the emergence of superstitious behavior in human participants under response-independent schedules of reinforcement.
    • To determine if reinforcer delivery without a contingency can shape persistent behavioral patterns.
    • To examine the consistency of superstitious behavior development in humans.

    Main Methods:

    • Twenty undergraduate students were exposed to fixed-time (FT) or variable-time (VT) schedules of reinforcement (30s and 60s).

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  • Reinforcers (points, light, buzzer) were delivered independently of participant behavior.
  • Participants had access to levers and visual stimuli, but no specific responses were required.

    • Main Results:

    • Three out of twenty participants developed persistent superstitious behaviors, including lever-pulling, object manipulation, and sensory superstition.
    • The majority of participants did not exhibit consistent superstitious behavior.
    • Reinforcers were shown to influence behavior even without a response-reinforcer contingency.

    Conclusions:

    • Response-independent reinforcers can shape stable superstitious patterns in some individuals.
    • Superstitious behavior is not a guaranteed outcome when humans are exposed to non-contingent reinforcement.
    • Behavioral psychology principles apply to human operant conditioning, but individual variability exists.