Similarity of parent and infant vocal behavior as a dimension of reinforcer quality.
Item
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Title
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Similarity of parent and infant vocal behavior as a dimension of reinforcer quality.
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Identifier
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AAI9959213
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identifier
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9959213
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Creator
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Parnes, Marie Patrice.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Claire L. Poulson
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Date
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2000
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Behavioral | Language, General | Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether behavioral similarity between parent and infant vocalizations enhanced the quality of parental vocalizations as a reinforcer for infant vocalization rate. Parental vocalizations that matched infant vocalizations were systematically compared with parental non-matching vocalizations, in a single-subject-reversal design. During the matching condition, the parent produced the same sounds as the infant immediately following their occurrence. During the non matching condition, the parent produced different sounds immediately following the occurrence of infant vocalizations. The non-matching vocalizations for each trial were selected from those the infant emitted during the matching condition. For all infants, vocalization rates were systematically higher during the matching condition when compared with the lower rates that were observed during the non-matching condition. In addition to these changes in infant vocalization rates, response patterns suggestive of reinforcement functions were also observed for all infants. Differential patterns of response change were suggestive of reinforcement functions, rather than elicitative functions of stimulus similarity between parent and infant vocalizations. The results of this research support the conclusion that behavioral similarity between parent and infant vocalizations may be an enhancer of parental vocal reinforcers.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
