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Behavior analysts and educators often recommend using praise, particularly descriptive praise, despite mixed empirical findings to support this recommendation. We evaluated the effectiveness of praise as a reinforcer during a… Click to show full abstract
Behavior analysts and educators often recommend using praise, particularly descriptive praise, despite mixed empirical findings to support this recommendation. We evaluated the effectiveness of praise as a reinforcer during a reinforcer assessment using known tasks with preschoolers in Experiment 1. Praise functioned as a reinforcer for 2 of 6 participants; the remaining 4 participants required additional reinforcers (edibles) to show a reinforcement effect. We then compared the effectiveness of descriptive versus general praise for acquisition of unknown tacts and assessed participants' preference for the different types of praise for 4 participants from Experiment 1. Results are discussed within the context of the importance of determining individual efficacy and preference for praise.
Journal Title: Journal of applied behavior analysis
Year Published: 2019
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