The present study examined resurgence of reinforced variability in college students, who completed a 3‐phase computer‐based variability task. In the first phase, baseline, points were delivered for drawing rectangles that sufficiently differed from previous rectangles in terms of a target dimension (size or location, counterbalanced) but were sufficiently similar in terms of the alternative dimension. In the second phase, alternative, points were only delivered for rectangles that were sufficiently different in terms of the alternative dimension, but repetitive in terms of the target dimension. In the third phase, extinction, no points were delivered. In baseline, participants made rectangles that were highly varied in terms of the target dimension and less varied in terms of the alternative dimension, and vice versa in the alternative phase. During extinction, levels of variability increased for the target dimension, providing evidence for resurgence of reinforced variability of a specific dimension of behavior. However, levels of variability also remained high for the alternative dimension, indicating that extinction‐induced response variability may also have impacted the results. Although future research is needed to explore other explanations, the results of this study replicate prior research with pigeons and provide some support for the notion of variability as an operant.

中文翻译：

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人类强化行为变异性的复兴调查


本研究调查了大学生的强化变异性的复苏，他们完成了基于计算机的三阶段变异性任务。在第一阶段（基线）中，为绘制矩形提供了点，这些矩形在目标尺寸（大小或位置，平衡）方面与先前的矩形充分不同，但在替代尺寸方面充分相似。在第二阶段，仅针对在替代维度方面足够不同但在目标维度方面重复的矩形传递替代点。第三阶段，灭绝，没有得分。在基线中，参与者制作的矩形在目标尺寸方面变化很大，而在替代尺寸方面变化较小，反之亦然。在灭绝期间，目标维度的变异性水平增加，为特定行为维度的强化变异性的复苏提供了证据。然而，替代维度的变异性水平仍然很高，这表明灭绝引起的响应变异性也可能影响结果。尽管需要未来的研究来探索其他解释，但这项研究的结果复制了之前对鸽子的研究，并为变异作为操作的概念提供了一些支持。