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Impulsivity, Intelligence, and Discriminating Reinforcement Contingencies in a Fixed-Ratio 3 Schedule

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

José Héctor Lozano Bleda  and
Miguel Ángel Pérez Nieto
José Héctor Lozano Bleda*
Affiliation:
Universidad Camilo José Cela (Spain)
Miguel Ángel Pérez Nieto
Affiliation:
Universidad Camilo José Cela (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to José Héctor Lozano Bleda. Dpto. de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Camilo José Cela. C/ Castillo de Alarcón, 49. Urb. Villafranca del Castillo, 28692 Madrid (Spain). E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Research conducted in academic contexts suggests a moderating effect of impulsive behavior on the relationship between aptitude and achievement. According to these studies, intelligence scores being equal, higher levels of impulsivity have an adverse effect on achievement (Helmers, Young, & Pihl, 1995; Vigil-Colet & Morales-Vives, 2005; Zeidner, 1995). The present study aims to contrast the aforementioned moderator effect in the context of a discriminant learning task, carried out under a fixed-ratio 3 reinforcement schedule. To that end, an impulsive behavioral pattern was identified in a sample of 1,600 participants' task execution based on response rate and latency. Said pattern was consistent and stable across several trials and can be ascribed to subjects' interactive style (Hernández, 2000). The observed interaction effect supports the hypothesis that impulsivity has a moderating effect on the aptitude-achievement relationship, highlighting how it impacts achievement differentially depending on the subject's level of aptitude.

Estudios relativos a contextos académicos sugieren un efecto moderador del comportamiento impulsivo sobre la relación entre aptitud y rendimiento. De acuerdo con estos trabajos, a igualdad de valores de inteligencia, una mayor impulsividad iría en perjuicio del aprendizaje (Helmers, Young, & Pihl, 1995; Vigil-Colet & Morales-Vives, 2005; Zeidner, 1995). El presente trabajo tiene por objeto contrastar dicho efecto moderador en el contexto de una tarea de aprendizaje discriminativo bajo un programa de reforzamiento razón fija 3. A tal fin, se ha identificado un patrón de comportamiento impulsivo en la ejecución de una muestra de 1,600 participantes con base en indicadores comportamentales de tasa y latencia de respuesta. El patrón de comportamiento identificado permite ser atribuido al estilo interactivo de los individuos, mostrando consistencia y estabilidad a lo largo de diferentes ensayos (Hernández, 2000). El efecto de interacción observado viene a respaldar la hipótesis de un efecto moderador de la impulsividad en la relación aptitud-rendimiento, poniendo a su vez de manifiesto cómo la impulsividad afecta al rendimiento de manera diferencial, en virtud del nivel aptitudinal que presentan los individuos.

Keywords

impulsivityintelligencelearningdiscriminationimpulsividadinteligenciaaprendizajediscriminación
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , November 2012 , pp. 922 - 929
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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