The momentum of compliance.
High-p sequences ride behavioral momentum, but only if steady reinforcement keeps the ball rolling.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Smith (1996) wrote a story-style review. He asked: why do high-p request sequences work?
He pulled together early lab and classroom data. He framed the effect as behavioral momentum.
The paper is conceptual, not a new experiment. It links physics ideas to compliance tricks.
What they found
The author says compliance rises because easy requests build momentum.
Like a heavy ball rolling, each quick yes makes the next yes more likely.
He warns that we still need tests of dose, timing, and child traits.
How this fits with other research
Yuwiler et al. (1992) showed the first kid data. Their chart lines jumped right after three easy tasks. Smith (1996) uses those jumps as proof of momentum.
Lipschultz et al. (2017) found no gain from high-p alone. That seems to clash with the momentum claim. The gap is method: they used free toys and short sessions, so reinforcement was thin.
Waldron et al. (2023) later repeated high-p in autism classrooms. They added tokens for finishing. Gains returned, showing momentum helps only when reward keeps rolling.
Why it matters
You now have a clear rule: stack 3-5 easy wins, then slide in the hard one.
If compliance stalls, check reinforcement, not the sequence. Pair easy tasks with quick praise or tokens. This keeps the momentum ball moving and avoids the null results seen when rewards lag.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Compliance with demanding requests that are normally ineffective may be increased by presenting a series of easy or high‐probability (high‐ p ) requests before the more demanding requests. Mace and his colleagues have discussed the effectiveness of the high‐ p procedure in relation to behavioral momentum—the tendency for behavior, once initiated and reinforced, to persist in the face of a challenge. The high‐ p procedure differs in several ways from that employed in laboratory research on momentum, and the methods and findings of basic research may not be relevant to applied work on compliance. This article reviews some laboratory procedures used in research on behavioral momentum, summarizes the major findings of that research, and discusses its relevance to the high‐ p procedure and its outcomes. Increased compliance with demanding requests following the high‐ p procedure can be understood in relation to the procedures and findings of basic research, but some questions arise in the process of translating research into application via the metaphor of momentum. These questions suggest some new directions for both experimental and applied behavior analysis.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1996 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1996.29-535