Verbal conditioning in sociopaths with social and monetary reinforcement.
- 1 June 1967
- journal article
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Vol. 6 (2) , 203-206
- https://doi.org/10.1037/h0024673
Abstract
SINCE IT HAS BEEN MAINTAINED THAT SOCIOPATHS HAVE A LEARNING DEFICIT, AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO CONDITION SOCIOPATHS AND NORMAL SS VERBALLY WITH "GOOD" (SOCIAL REWARD) OR NICKELS (MONETARY REWARD). 40 FEMALE PRISONERS COMPRISED THE SOCIOPATHIC GROUP AND WERE CHOSEN FROM A LARGER GROUP OF INMATES BECAUSE OF THEIR SOCIOPATHIC MMPI PROFILES. 39 NORMAL SS WERE CHOSEN FROM A LARGER GROUP OF STUDENT NURSES; ALL NORMAL SS HAD MMPI T SCORES BETWEEN 35 AND 65, WITHOUT SOCIOPATHIC OR PSYCHOTIC TENDENCIES ON THE MMPI. SOCIOPATHS SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY MORE FREQUENT EMISSION OF THE REINFORCED PRONOUN IN THE SENTENCE-CONSTRUCTION TASK. SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT WAS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN MONETARY REWARDS FOR BOTH GROUPS, BUT NOTICEABLY SO FOR THE SOCIOPATHS. POSSIBLE BASES OF THE RESULTS ARE DISCUSSED. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)Keywords
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