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When do errors in reinforcer delivery affect learning? A parametric analysis of treatment integrity.
Samantha Bergmann1, Tiffany Kodak2, Michael J Harman3
1University of North Texas.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|January 25, 2021
Summary
Treatment integrity errors in reinforcer delivery, up to 15%, did not prevent skill acquisition. Maintaining 85% treatment integrity is likely sufficient for learning conditional discriminations.
Area of Science:
- Behavior Analysis
- Psychology
- Education
Background:
- Treatment integrity is crucial for intervention effectiveness.
- Reduced treatment integrity can impact skill acquisition.
- Previous research explored errors in reinforcer delivery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of varying levels of treatment integrity errors on skill acquisition.
- To identify the threshold of reinforcer delivery errors that hinder learning.
Main Methods:
- A randomized-control group design was used.
- Participants acquired conditional discriminations with programmed reinforcer delivery errors (0-50%).
- Parametric analysis assessed different error percentages.
Main Results:
- Errors in reinforcer delivery up to 15% (85% integrity) did not prevent participants from reaching mastery.
- Higher error rates (20% and above) significantly slowed or prevented acquisition.
- Findings replicated and extended Hirst and DiGennaro Reed (2015).
Conclusions:
- A minimum of 85% treatment integrity in reinforcer delivery appears sufficient for conditional discrimination acquisition.
- These findings inform the tolerance for errors in applied behavior analysis procedures.
- Understanding integrity thresholds is vital for effective skill acquisition interventions.
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