This research is designed to evaluate the role of motivating operations on the rate of skill acquisition. Little research has been done on whether or not faster learning occurs when a reinforcer has been isolated for teaching a specific skill. The purpose of the current study is to determine whether deprivation of a preferred item will increase the rate of acquisition when compared to the acquisition rate when an individual has free access to a reinforcer. Preliminary results demonstrated that relative states of deprivation were associated with faster acquisition of simple discriminations. Preliminary findings resented at BABAT 2015.
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
Autism Research Database (AFD)
