Doubting Thomas gave Shy Shirley a raisin (Thomas' favorite food) every time Shirley said anything in their training session. But Shirley failed to become more talkative; she didn't even eat the raisins. So Thomas concluded that behavior analysis didn't work. What did Thomas fail to do?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Thomas failed to check the assumed reinforcer, which was the raisin. The lack of response from Shirley indicates that either the raisin wasn't actually reinforcing for her or that she didn't understand that her behavior was being reinforced by receiving a raisin. Without checking the effectiveness of the assumed reinforcer, it's impossible to know whether the behavior analysis was working or not.

Doubting Thomas Gave Shy Shirley a Raisin (Thomas' Favorite Food)