Operant Conditioning of a .300 Hitter?

Abstract

Nine members of a professional touring baseball team served as subjects in an experiment to test the effects of reinforcement on individual and team offensive production. A new baseball statistic, the Efficiency Average (EA), was developed and recorded as the dependent variable. The experiment was conducted via an ABAB design. During the two phases of reinforcement, subjects' EAs were posted in the dugout prior to each game. After seven games, the three players with the highest cumulative EAs for that period were given $5.00, $3.00, and $2.00 respectively by rank order. Six of the subjects increased their offensive efficiency over baseline levels as evidenced by higher EAs during the first phase of reinforcement. Four subjects' EAs decreased with the reinstatement of baseline conditions, and EAs increased for four subjects when reinforcement was continued during the final phase. Team EA and run production was significantly higher for the 28 games when reinforcement was contingent upon EA ranking than for the 42 games when reinforcement was not available. While a functional relationship between the experimental procedures and the subjects' baseball behavior was not demonstrated by the data, several interesting effects of the intervention were noted which served to weaken experimental control. Considerations for further applied behavior analysis of athletics are discussed.