Designing Interventions That Include Delayed Reinforcement: Implications of Recent Laboratory Research

Abstract

The search for robust and durable interventions in everyday situations typically involves the use of delayed reinforcers, sometimes delivered well after a target behavior occurs. Integrating the findings from laboratory research on delayed reinforcement can contribute to the design and analysis of those applied interventions. As illustrations, we examine articles from the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior that analyzed delayed reinforcement with respect to response allocation (A. M. Williams & Lattal, 1999), stimulus chaining (B. A. Williams, 1999), and self‐control (Jackson & Hackenberg, 1996). These studies help to clarify the conditions under which delayed reinforcement (a) exercises control of behavior, (b) entails conditioned reinforcement, and (c) displaces the effects of immediate reinforcement. The research has applied implications, including the development of positive social behavior and teaching people to make adaptive choices.

Assessment of Impulsivity and the Development of Self‐control in Students With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…The study also contributes to research with humans on self-control with the use of tokens (in the form of points) as intervening stimuli prior to the exchange period (Stromer, McComas, & Rehfeldt, 2000). Most previous research with humans has investigated self-control and impulsivity with respect to the delivery of tokens or points.…”

The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure.

“…This conditioning need not be limited to effort. Stromer, McComas, and Rehfeldt (2000) reviewed the more general technique of stimulus chaining, in which any aspect of work that provides differential contingency for success can be a candidate. Whether the stimulus is pictures, praise, or pennies, as long as it repeatedly predicts the reward, associations will build.…”

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“…Self-control occurs when responding produces greater delayed reinforcers at the expense of more immediate, smaller reinforcers (Logue, 1995;Dixon, Hayes, Binder, Manthey, Sigman, & Zdanowski, 1998). Behaviors that yield delayed reinforcement are highly adaptive in day-to-day life (Stromer, McComan & Rehfeldt, 2000), and as such are a socially significant behavior and worth investigating in applied behavior analysis.…”