Author

Yuram Kim

Graduation Year

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Child and Family Studies

Major Professor

Sarah Bloom, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Co-Major Professor

Andrew Samaha, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Committee Member

Kimberly Crosland, Ph.D., BCBA

Keywords

technology, delay to reinforcement, response allocation, pair-stimulus preference assessment

Abstract

Many children are exposed to excessively technology. Such use of technology may lead to health issues including obesity, attention deficits, and sleep disorders. Research has shown that parameters of reinforcement, such as quality and delay, may influence how children allocate their preferences. One way to drive preference away from high-tech toys may be to arrange delays to reinforcement following such selections and immediate reinforcement for an alternative response. In Experiment 1, four subjects who preferred high-tech leisure items over low-tech leisure items were identified through the pair-stimulus preference assessments. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that all subjects were sensitive to delay to reinforcement. When delays were implemented following selection of high-tech items, preference shifted from high-tech to low-tech leisure items at different delays.

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