Prompt Density, Rate of Reinforcement, and the Persistence of Manding

Previous research has documented the effects of prompting mands at a relatively high rate (i.e., rich schedule) or low rate (i.e., lean schedule). These previous studies have not addressed the possibility of prompt dependency as an explanation for these results. Furthermore, the implications of a collateral effect of prompt density, increased response-reinforcer pairings, have not been investigated. The current studies sought to address these two questions. During Experiment 1, the effect of prompt density (i.e., high and low prompt rate) on manding was evaluated. The inclusion of a control condition (i.e., prompts in the absence of the relevant establishing operation and reinforcement) isolated the effect of prompts on manding. During Experiment 2, a collateral effect of relatively high prompt density, increased reinforcer rate, on response persistence was evaluated. Results showed that manding rates varied with prompt rate and did not appear to be prompt dependent. Finally, mands persisted longer following a relatively rich prompt schedule than a relatively lean prompt schedule.