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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
An evaluation of praise as a reinforcer for preschoolers' behavior
Laura Perry Senn1, Makenzie W Bayles1, Jennifer L Bruzek1
1Jacksonville State University.
Abstract:
Behavior analysts and educators often recommend using praise, particularly descriptive praise, despite mixed empirical findings to support this recommendation. We evaluated the effectiveness of praise as a reinforcer during a reinforcer assessment using known tasks with preschoolers in Experiment 1. Praise functioned as a reinforcer for 2 of 6 participants; the remaining 4 participants required additional reinforcers (edibles) to show a reinforcement effect. We then compared the effectiveness of descriptive versus general praise for acquisition of unknown tacts and assessed participants' preference for the different types of praise for 4 participants from Experiment 1. Results are discussed within the context of the importance of determining individual efficacy and preference for praise.
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