"Abnormal fixation" and learning.

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Abstract
To isolate the effects of partial and nondifferential reinforcement in a situation similar to the one from which Maier has drawn evidence for "abnormal fixations," Ss were trained in an initial habit under different experimental conditions of Continuous-Reinforcement, Partial-Reinforcement, and an Insoluble-Problem situation. Following training, Ss were tested for their ability to learn a new response requiring abandonment of the one learned under experimental conditions. Non-differential reinforcement per se increases variability. Lack of differential reinforcement is not necessary to obtain a high proportion of fixations in this situation, but partial reinforcement of the first habit developed is a condition of great importance in the development of fixations. Responses adopted under partial reinforcement conditions in a selective-learning situation were more rigid in test training than those adopted in the Insoluble Problem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

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