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. 1987 Mar;47(2):177–190. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1987.47-177

The role of verbal behavior in human learning: III. Instructional effects in children

R P Bentall, C F Lowe
PMCID: PMC1348325  PMID: 16812475

Abstract

Lever pressing of children from three age groups (2½ to 4, 5 to 6½, and 7½ to 9 years) could produce reinforcers according to a fixed-interval 40-s schedule: (1) Some were instructed to respond at a high rate, others at a low rate, and (2) they were subsequently taught to provide their own spoken self-instructions consonant with the earlier, experimenter-supplied instructions. All subjects who received high-rate instructions responded at a steady, high rate, which was maintained following self-instructional training. The effects of low-rate instructions were directly related to the age of the children. The two older groups produced low-rate patterns, with the oldest children responding at very low rates; effects were least noticeable in the youngest age group. Following self-instructional training, all three groups showed adult-like low-rate behavior and the oldest children showed an improved ability to estimate the interval length. The results provide further evidence of the importance of language as a determinant of human behavior.

Keywords: verbal behavior, instructions, self-instructions, developmental differences, fixed interval, postreinforcement pause, response rate, lever press, children

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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