Content area
Abstract
The purpose of the present investigation is to examine the relative value of illusionary choice-making for children with acquired brain injury. Three participants will be initially asked to engage in a low probability task in the absence of any programmed reinforcement. Following the obtaining of a stable baseline of response duration, participants will be asked to choose between a smaller, immediate reinforcer and a larger, delayed reinforcer contingent upon higher-than-baseline levels of response engagement. It is expected that participants will select the smaller, immediate reinforcer. A third choice will then be added which will allow the participant to have illusory control over the delay requirement to obtain the larger reinforcer. Participants will have a choice between options requiring: (a) no response to earn a small reinforcer, (b) the role of a die by them, engagement in a target task, and a large reinforcer, or (c) the role of the die by the experimenter, engagement in a target task, and a large reinforcer. It is expected that participants will shift their preference to one of the larger, delayed reinforcement options. Finally, participants will return to a choice baseline phase to determine if their preferences had shifted. Implications for the study of self-control and teaching persons with brain injury to tolerate delays to reinforcement are provided.
