Limited sensory and social deprivation and operant control of affiliation and deference responses.

Abstract

Summary The study tested two hypotheses: (a) affiliation and deference responses are subject to reinforcement, and (b) deprivation enhances the effects of reinforcement more than satiation conditions. Sensory and socially deprived Ss were isolated for 45 minutes; satiated Ss were provided with sensory and social experiences for 45 minutes. Both groups were reinforced for affiliation and deference replies on the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) Affiliation and Deference scales, and for plural nouns in a word-naming task. Support for the hypotheses were obtained on the EPPS, but not on the word-naming tasks.