Comparison of Ámselin and RFC-Extinction schedule effects on frustration responses

Abstract

This paper aimed to compare the performance of the participants in front of Ámselin in its original version and an alternative version that simulates continuous reinforcement (RFC) and extinction conditions in laboratory procedures. Ámselin was administered to 120 university students and four groups were formed and exposed to different phases of each version in the following order: Group 1 Phase 1: original and Phase 2: original, Group 2 Phase 1: RFC and Phase 2: Extinction, Group 3 Phase 1: RFC and Phase 2: original, Group 4 Phase 1: original and Phase 2: Extinction. The results revealed nine differences between the two versions of Ámselin, but 28 had to be found to accept the disparity hypothesis. Therefore, this hypothesis was rejected. Furthermore, Ámselin showed effectiveness in producing frustration responses in participants, confirming results from previous studies.