Differential Reinforcement of Human Self-Reports about Schedule Performances

Abstract

A report to have responded slowly was reinforced after a fixed-ratio schedule, whereas a report to have responded rapidly was reinforced after a differential-reinforcement-of-Iow-rate schedule. All 5 undergraduates reported they had responded slowly when the last interresponse time during the preceding schedule had been short, and had responded rapidly when the last interresponse time had been long. This referent-report relation was not observed when every report was reinforced nondifferentially. The results demonstrate that the self-reports were affected by the differential reinforcement when schedule performances were their referent.