Effects of candy and social reinforcement, instructions, and reinforcement schedule leaning on the modification and maintenance of smiling.
Lean praise schedules can keep new smiles alive after you fade candy.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Two boys with intellectual disability rarely smiled. The team gave them candy each time they smiled. After smiles grew, they thinned the candy schedule and added praise. They wanted to see if smiles would stay without candy.
The study used a single-case design. Smiles were counted in short sessions. Candy faded from every smile to occasional smiles plus social praise.
What they found
Both boys reached typical smile levels while candy was given. When candy moved to a lean schedule plus praise, smiles stayed high. Months later, smiles remained without candy.
Social reinforcement alone kept the new behavior going.
How this fits with other research
Lewis et al. (1976) got the same result—more smiling—using instructions, modeling, and praise instead of candy. This shows edible fading is not the only path; teaching plus social praise also works.
Houck et al. (2024) reused the same tactic—preference check then lean schedule—with adults wearing masks. Smiles or masks, the rule holds: find what they like, then stretch the schedule.
Chou et al. (2010) seems to clash. Their kids stopped choosing contingent reinforcement when the schedule got very lean. The difference is preference versus maintenance. Kids may prefer free treats, yet still keep a behavior if social praise is added and the lean schedule is gradual.
Why it matters
You can teach a social behavior with edibles, but you don’t need them forever. Fade candy slowly and mix in praise; the smile stays. This saves money and keeps clients from expecting food each time. Try it with any social skill—greetings, eye contact, or mask wearing.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Two retarded boys exhibited abnormally low rates of smiling. In Exp. I, the frequency of a boy's smiling was first increased with candy reinforcement, but the frequency of the response did not decrease when candy reinforcement was terminated. When the subject wore a sign designed to make social interactions contingent on not-smiling, the frequency of smiling decreased. The sign was then changed to make social interactions contingent on smiling and the rate of smiling increased. In Exp. II, a second boy initially never smiled. Establishment of a contingency for candy reinforcement did not increase this zero response rate. Instructing the child to smile initially increased smiling, but the instructions then became progressively more ineffective. Candy reinforcement increased the rate of smiling to a normal range, but the rate of the response promptly decreased when this reinforcement was discontinued. Continuous candy reinforcement was again employed to increase the response rate and then progressively leaner schedules of variable-ratio candy reinforcement were employed. Consequently, the rate of smiling did not decrease when candy reinforcement was again eliminated. Subsequently, signs were employed to regulate social interactions and the rate of smiling was shown to be controlled by these interactions serving as reinforcers.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1968 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1968.1-121