Programming maintenance after correspondence training interventions with children.

The team worked with three kids in a preschool classroom.

They first taught the kids to say what they would do and then actually do it. This is called correspondence training.

Next they faded the rewards to unpredictable schedules while still praising the kids' own rule statements. They tracked if the good behavior stuck for weeks.

All three kids kept following their own rules even when rewards became rare and random.

The behaviors stayed strong for up to eight weeks with no extra training.

Saying the rule out loud seemed to help lock the skill in place.

Hopkins et al. (1977) showed earlier that thinning rewards in session plus adding free rewards elsewhere helps maintenance. This study adds the twist of keeping the child’s own verbal rules in the mix.

Lloyd (2002) later argued that correspondence training research had stalled by 1992. This 1986 paper is one of the last strong examples before the pause, showing exactly the kind of practical fade-out E said was missing.

Weinsztok et al. (2022) looked at how bigger or better rewards protect treatment when staff slip up. C et al. took the opposite path: they made rewards smaller and less predictable yet still kept the behavior going.

You can teach a child to state a rule, reinforce it heavily at first, then thin to random praise while still asking, “What’s our rule?” This locks in the skill without endless candy or tokens. Try it next week with any classroom routine.