The effect of response cost on instrumental performance in higher and lower schizotypal participants

This study explored the relationship between response cost and the responding maintained by free-operant schedules of reinforcement for participants with lower and higher levels of schizotypy. The 'discounting' hypothesis suggests that those with higher levels of schizotypy should be less sensitive to the negative consequences of their behavior. This predicts that participants with higher-schizotypy scores would have higher response levels on any given schedule, and that the effect of increasing response cost would not be as noticeable for this group. Participants responded via a computer keyboard on random interval (RI) 30-s, 60-s, and 120-s schedules of reinforcement for points (60 points), and experienced response costs of either low (1-point deduction) or high (10-point deduction) response costs. The UE subscale of the O-LIFE(B) was used to measure schizotypy levels. Response rates were higher with low-costs compared to high-costs for those with higher-UE scores, but not for those with lower-UE scores. That response cost differentially affected higher-UE scorers, suggesting that a 'disconfirmation' view of these data does not explain free-operant performance well.