| Summary: | A reinforcer is a stimulus presented closely following a response which results in a future increase in frequency of that response. In an ideal applied setting, a stimulus should be presented immediately. But, it may not always be possible to present stimuli immediately in the applied setting. The current study compares the effects of consequence delivery delivered immediately to consequences delayed by five seconds. Three typically developing males, ages 25-30 participated
in visual-visual matching tasks using arbitrary stimuli. Half of the stimuli were always presented with immediate consequences, while the other half was only followed by delayed consequences. Participants quickly achieved mastery of the matching tasks when consequences were immediate, but did not achieve quick mastery (within five sessions) when consequences were delayed by five seconds. These results support the accepted wisdom that immediate consequences are always best for skill
acquisition and that high treatment integrity is crucial. Additionally, it provides an example of adapting basic research practices for use in applied contexts.
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