MCAT Behavioral Sciences Question 230: Answer and Explanation

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Question: 230

6. If the experiment described in the passage were repeated, but instead of testing how drug education affects compliance, researchers measured how incentives affect compliance in low SES schizophrenics. The low SES schizophrenia group was broken into two groups. Group A received an incentive every time they took their medication for seven consecutive days while Group B received an incentive every two weeks, regardless of compliance level. Based on operant conditioning principles, what results should the researchers see?

  • A. No difference in compliance levels from the first study.
  • B. Group A's compliance should be higher than Group B's compliance.
  • C. Group B's compliance should be higher than Group A's compliance.
  • D. Both groups should demonstrate increased compliance from the first study but it is impossible to tell which group's compliance is expected to be higher.

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

According to the question, Group A is receiving an incentive on a fixed-ratio schedule (after every seven consecutive days of medication compliance) and Group B is receiving an incentive on a fixed-interval schedule (every two weeks, regardless of compliance). According to operant conditioning principles, a fixed-ratio schedule should produce a high rate of desired behavior (in this case, medication compliance), while a fixed-interval schedule produces a steady rate of response that tends to increase closer to the reward, but is not nearly as frequent as what is expected from a fixed-ratio reward schedule (choice A is correct; choice C is wrong). Based on operant conditioning principles, rewarding desired behavior should increase behavior (choice A is wrong), and applying a fixed-ratio and fixed-interval reward schedule should increase behavior in predictable ways (choice D is wrong).

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