Effect of Reinforcement on Modality of Stimulus Control in Learning Disabled Students

Pre-existing preference for stimulus modality is often claimed to control performance on short-term memory tasks. The present experiment evaluated the effects of reinforcement contingencies on task performance of bisensory missing words. Subjects included one learning disabled (LD) male with an auditory preference and one LD female with a visual preference on short-term memory tasks that presented both visual and auditory stimuli. Reinforcement contingencies were found to control both subjects' performances. Results imply that reinforcement variables may account for consistency in a subject's visual or auditory stimulus-controlled performance.