Reinforcement
Teacher I:
Module 6
Chapter 11-
Positive
Reinforcement
Chapter 12-
Negative
Reinforcement
Chapter 13-
Schedules of
Reinforcement
Chapter 11:
Positive Reinforcement
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Applied Behavior Analysis, Second Edition All rights reserved
Definition
• Stimulus presented
• Contingent on a response
• Which increases the future probability of the response
• The future increase in the response is a critical feature in defining
reinforcement
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Reinforcement is Not a Circular Concept
• Circular Reasoning
• Faulty logic in which the name used describe the effect is also mistaken for
the cause of the phenomenon
• Example: Johnny has trouble learning to read (effect). Therefore, he has a
learning disability (phenomenon). How do I know he has a learning
disability? Because he can’t read (effect now translated into cause)
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Reinforcement is Not a Circular Concept
• Sometimes, people refer to “reinforcement” as a circular concept--it
is not!
• Example: Robbie’s studying behavior increased when he earned
points for studying.
• Cause (earning points) and effect (increased study behavior) are different
• Points can be manipulated as an independent variable to observe effects on
studying
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The Role of Antecedent Stimuli
• Caveat #1: Reinforcement does not increase
behavior under all conditions
• The temporal relation between
• Antecedent variables
• Responses
• Consequences
is important!
• These antecedent variables become discriminitive
stimuli (SDs)
• Thus, the response is more likely to occur in the
future in the presence of these stimuli
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The Discriminated Operant
• AKA “The Three-term Contingency”
SD
Response
Tap on faucet SR+
marked with Turn tap
Cold water
blue dot or with blue
presented
letter “C” dot or “C” Turning tap marked
with blue dot or “C”
occurs more often
in the future
This term is referred to as
“the reinforcer”
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The Role of Antecedent Stimuli
• Caveat #2: Reinforcement depends on motivation
• The SD will only signal the response if the individual is motivated to
engage in the response
• Motivating Operations (MOs)
• Alter the reinforcing effectiveness of stimuli, and thus
• Alter the momentary frequency of responses reinforced by those stimuli
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Motivating Operations
• Establishing Operations (EO)
• Increases the effectiveness of a stimulus as a reinforcer
• Usually involves decreased access to the stimulus (deprivation)
• Abolishing Operation (AO)
• Decreases the effectiveness of a stimulus as a reinforcer
• Usually involves having increased access to the stimulus (satiation)
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The Four-term Contingency
• The consideration of MOs are important in
relation to the three-term contingency
EO SD Response SR+
Deprived of Tap on faucet Turn tap Cold water
water for a marked with with blue presented
long period of blue dot or dot or “C” Turning tap marked
with blue dot or “C”
time letter “C” occurs more often
in the future when
the individual has
We only expect blue tap-turning been deprived of
water for periods of
behavior when the person “wants” time
water (i.e., is thirsty)
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Questions About Reinforcement
• Does a person have to be aware that a response is being reinforced
for it to increase?
• NO! The effect is automatic.
• Are certain behaviors susceptible to reinforcement and others are
not?
• NO! The only relevant relevant property is the temporal relation between
the response and the consequence.
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Immediacy of Reinforcement
• It is critical that the consequence is delivered immediately following
the target response
• Problems with delays to reinforcement
• Other behaviors occur during the delay
• The behavior temporarily closest to the presentation of the reinforcer will be
strengthened
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Delayed Reinforcement
• Does not necessarily reinforce the target behavior; rather influences
it
• Instructional Control/Rule Following
• Rule: verbal description of a behavioral contingency
• Can allow delayed consequences to influence behavior
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“Rule-governed Behavior”
• Indicators
• No immediate consequence apparent
• Response-consequence delay > 30 s
• Large increase in frequency of the behavior occurs following one instance of
reinforcement
• No consequence for the behavior exists (including no automatic
reinforcement), but rule does
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Superstitious Behavior
• Occurs when reinforcement “accidentally” follows a behavior that did
not produce the reinforcement
• Sports players who equate putting on a certain pair of socks with winning a
game (leading to the “lucky socks” idea)
• A teacher consoling a child who hurt himself may reinforce crying and/or
hurting oneself
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Automatic Reinforcement
• Reinforcement that occurs independent of
another person delivering it
• The response, itself, produces the reinforcement
• Examples
• Wiggling your leg during a boring lecture to stimulate
yourself and stay awake
• Note: This does not mean the behaviors are
automatic (i.e., “reflexive”); rather that the
consequences are delivered automatically
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Classifying Reinforcers
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Reinforcers by Origin
• Unconditioned Reinforcers (AKA primary or unlearned reinforcers)
• Function as reinforcers due to heredity/evolution
• Do not require any learning history to become reinforcers
• Examples: Food, water, oxygen, warmth, sexual stimulation, human touch
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Reinforcers by Origin
• Conditioned Reinforcers (AKA secondary or learned reinforcers)
• Neutral stimuli that begin to function as reinforcers as a result of being
paired with other reinforcers (either conditioned or unconditioned)
• Can also condition reinforcers through verbal analog conditioning
• Examples: Yellow paper, stickers, tokens
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Generalized Conditioned Reinforcers
• A type of conditioned reinforcer that has been paired with many
conditioned and unconditioned reinforcers
• Do not depend on a specific EO to be effective
• Examples: tokens, money, points
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Reinforcers by Formal Properties
• Edible reinforcers (food)
• Sensory reinforcers (massage, tickles)
• Tangible reinforcers (trinkets, toys)
• Activity reinforcers (playing a game, recess)
• Social reinforcers (physical proximity, social
interaction)
Bear this in mind:
Items that function as reinforcers are
idiosyncratic across people!
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Identifying Potential Reinforcers
• It is important to identify reinforcers empirically
• Staff, parents, teachers, and even children themselves who report what they
believe to be reinforcers are often wrong
• Two strategies to use in tandem
• Stimulus Preference Assessments
• Reinforcer Assessments
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Caveats Regarding Preference/Reinf. Assess.
• Preference changes over time
• Evaluate frequently
• Preference assessments do not identify the reinforcing effects of
stimuli
• Just because people prefer paper towels to hot-air hand dryers in public
restrooms doesn’t mean they’ll work to earn paper towels!
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Stimulus Preference Assessments
• Identify
• Stimuli a person prefers
• Relevant preference values
• Conditions under which these preferences hold true
• Three Categories
• Asking about stimulus preferences
• Observing the target person under free-operant
conditions
• Presenting various stimuli in a series of trial-based
observation
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Asking About Stimulus Preferences
• Ask the Target Person
• Open-ended questions
• What would you like to work for?
• Asking about specific items
• How would you like to work for stickers?
• Choice format
• Would you rather work for things to eat or things to do?
• Rank order format
• Put these items/activities in order from which you’d like to work for most to which you’d
like to work for least.
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Asking About Stimulus Preferences
• Offering Pre-task Choices
• When you are finished working, you can play with Battleship, checkers, or
the computer
• Asking Significant Others
• Ask caregivers to identify preferred stimuli
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Asking About Stimulus Preferences
• A relatively uncomplicated procedure
• Problems
• Verbal reports may not correspond to actual behavior
• High number of false positives and low number of false negatives
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Free-Operant Observation
• Observing and recording what activities the target person engages in
when he/she has unrestricted choice of activities
• No response requirements
• All stimuli available within sight and reach
• Items are never removed
• Can be contrived or naturalistic
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Contrived Free-Operant Observation
• Just prior to observation, provide learner with noncontingent
exposure to each item (for sampling purposes)
• Place all items in view and within reach
• Observe for a set period of time and record the duration of time
target person engages with each stimulus item
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Naturalistic Free-Operant Observation
• Conducted in everyday environments as unobtrusively as possible
(e.g., during recess)
• Observe for a set period of time and record the duration of time
target person engages with each stimulus item/activity
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Advantages of Free-Operant Assessments
• Less time consuming than some trial-based methods of preference
assessment.
• Less likely to produce problem behavior because preferred stimuli are
never removed.
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Trial-Based Methods
• General Procedure
• Present selected stimuli to children in a series of trials
• Measure approach (e.g., eye gaze, hand reach),
contact (e.g., touch/hold), and/or engagement (e.g.,
interacting with stimulus)
• Can categorize as high, medium, and low preference
• Many variations for procedure
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Trial-based Method 1:
Single Stimulus Presentation
• Present stimuli, one at a time, in random order and record target
person’s reaction to it
• Well suited for individuals who have difficulty selecting among two or
more stimuli
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Trial-based Method 2:
Paired Stimuli Presentation
• Sometimes called “forced-choice” method
• Present two stimuli simultaneously and ask the target person to
choose one
• Each stimulus is matched to every other stimulus in the set
• Rank order from high, medium, and low preference
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Trial-based Method 3:
Multiple Stimulus Presentation
• Extension of the paired-stimuli presentation
• Present an array of 3 or more stimuli together
• Two major variations:
• With replacement
• Stimulus selected remains in array in subsequent trials
• Without replacement
• Selected stimulus is removed from the array in subsequent
trials (takes about half the time to complete the procedure, and
it is still fairly accurate)
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Trial-based Method 3:
Multiple Stimulus Presentation
• Begin trial with: Which one do you want the most?
• Repeat several times
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Guidelines for Selecting and Using
Stimulus Preference Assessments
• Monitor target person’s activities prior to
assessment to be aware of EOs that may affect
results
• Balance cost-benefits of procedures (time to do vs.
level of confidence)
• Balance rankings vs. no rankings with shifts of
preference
• When time is limited, use fewer stimuli in array
• When possible, combine data from multiple
assessment procedures
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Reinforcer Assessment
• A direct, data-based method in which
• One or more stimuli are presented
• Contingent on a target response, and
• Observing whether an increase in responding occurs
• Allows you to verify/confirm whether a stimulus
functions as a reinforcer
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Concurrent Schedule Reinforcer Assessment
• Pit two stimuli against each other and observe which produces the
larger increase in responding
• Allows you to determine differences between relative and absolute
reinforcement effects
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Multiple Schedule Reinforcer Assessment
• Two or more component schedules of reinforcement for a single
response with only one component schedule in effect at a given time
• An SD signals the presence of each component schedule and is
present while that component is in effect
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Progressive-Ratio Schedule Reinforcer
Assessment
• Preferences may change when response requirements increase
• Progressive-ratio schedules provide a framework for assessing
relative effectiveness of a stimulus as reinforcement as response
requirements increase
• Response requirements are systematically increased over time until
responding declines
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Control Procedures for Positive
Reinforcement
• When evaluating the effects of reinforcement in
an ABAB reversal design:
• “the ideal control procedure…eliminates the
contingent relation between the occurrence of the
target response and the presentation of the stimulus
while controlling for the effects of stimulus
presentation alone” (Thompson & Iwata, 2003, p.
259).
• Perhaps a noncontingent schedule of
reinforcement is the appropriate control (A)
condition as a comparison for the positive
reinforcement (B) condition.
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Control Procedures for Positive
Reinforcement
• DRO may be another appropriate control procedure
• May produce a reversal more quickly than the NCR schedule
• DRA could be used as a control procedure to reinforce another
alternative response
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Control Procedures for Positive
Reinforcement
• Limitations of DRO/DRA as controls
• Introduce new contingencies that were not present in original experimental
arrangement
• Reversals may be due to
• Termination of a contingency between target response and reinforcer
• Introduction of reinforcement for absence of the target response or for the occurrence
of a competing response
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12 Guidelines for Using Reinforcement
Effectively
1. Choose reinforcers relevant to current or creatable establishing
operations
2. Maintain establishing operations
3. Use high-quality reinforcers of
sufficient magnitude
4. Set an easily achieved initial criterion for reinforcement
-criterion should be less than or
equal to best performance during
baseline
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12 Guidelines for Using Reinforcement
Effectively
5. Explain the contingency and provide prompts to respond
6. Deliver the reinforcer immediately following behavior
7. Reinforce each occurrence of the behavior initially
8. Use direct rather than indirect reinforcement contingencies
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12 Guidelines for Using Reinforcement
Effectively
9. Gradually increase response-to-reinforcement delay
10. Use varied reinforcers
11. Use contingent praise and attention
12. Shift from contrived to naturally occurring reinforcers
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Chapter 12:
Negative Reinforcement
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Definition
• Stimulus removed (terminated, reduced, or postponed)
• Contingent on a response
• Which results in an increase in the future probability of that response
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Escape Contingency
• Includes 4 terms
• Establishing operation
• Antecedent event in the presence of which escape is reinforcing
• An aversive stimulus
• A discrimintive stimulus (SD)
• A response
• The reinforcer (termination of the EO)
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Positive vs. Negative Reinforcement
• How they are similar:
• Both produce an increase in responding via a stimulus change
• How they are different:
• The type of stimulus change that follows the behavior
• Positive reinforcement produces a stimulus that was absent prior to responding
• Negative reinforcement terminates a stimulus that was present prior to responding
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Positive vs. Negative Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement:
EO SD Response SR+
Absence of Teacher says “Apple, Apple Saying “Apple,
Different
please” when it is
food for 2 “Snack time” please” presented
Sim
snack time and
hours and apples on apples are present
table more likely in the
future
Negative reinforcement:
Math
EO
worksheet with
SD
Teacher says
“Complete 5
ilar
Response
Completes 5
problems
SR-
Remaining
problems on Completing
problems when
20 problems problems, then worksheet math worksheet
on student’s you don’t have removed and teacher
desk to do the rest” instructions
present more likely
in the future
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A difficulty…
• Sometimes it can be difficult to determine
whether the stimulus change was positive or
negative
• Turning up the heat
• Adds heat
• Removes cold
• Free time contingent on work completion
• Adds preferred activities
• Removes work
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A solution…
• Michael (1975) suggested the distinction is not
important
• Instead, define key stimulus features
• Before the stimulus change
• After the stimulus change
• This may provide a more complete, functional
understanding of the relationship between the
behavior and environment
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Negative Reinforcement vs. Punishment
• Often confused because:
• “Positive” and “Negative” are opposites
• But “positive” refers to presentation of the stimulus and “negative” refers to the
termination of the stimulus
• Both involve “aversive” events
• But in negative reinforcement, the aversive event is present prior to the target behavior
and in punishment, the aversive event is presented contingent on the target behavior
• And the effect on behavior is different (negative reinforcement produces an increase in
responding; punishment produces a decrease in responding)
Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Negative Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Negative reinforcement:
EO SD Response SR-
Math Teacher says Completes 5 Remaining
worksheet with “Complete 5 problems problems on Completing
20 problems problems, then worksheet problems more
Diff
on student’s you don’t have removed likely in the future
when math
desk to do the rest” worksheet and
Aversive eren
teacher
instructions
present
Punishment:
SD Response SP+
Teacher says Destroys Teacher
stimuli
“Complete 5 worksheet requires
t
problems, then student to Destroying
you don’t have complete all 20 worksheet less
likely in the future
to do the rest” problems when teacher
makes work
request
Escape and Avoidance Contingencies
• Escape Contingency
EO SD Response SR-
Rain falling Friend says Put up Escape rain
on your head “Do you have umbrella falling on your
as you walk an umbrella?” head Putting up umbrella
more likely in the
down future when it’s
sidewalk raining and friend
asks for umbrella
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Escape and Avoidance Contingencies
• Avoidance Contingency
EO SD Response SR-
Rain Friend says Put up Avoid rain
outside; you “Do you have umbrella falling on
are still an (prior to your head Putting up umbrella
more likely in the
inside--nice umbrella?” going future when it’s
and dry outside) raining and friend
asks for umbrella
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Characteristics of Negative Reinforcement
• Any response (socially appropriate or inappropriate) can be
strengthened by negative reinforcement
• All are adaptive because they allow the individual to interact effectively with
the environment
• A variety of stimuli can serve as negative reinforcers
• Unconditioned
• Conditioned
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Characteristics of Negative Reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement can be
• Socially mediated (delivered by another person)
• Automatic (is produced directly by the person’s response)
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Factors Influencing Effectiveness
• As with positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement is most
effective when
• It is delivered immediately following the target behavior
• The magnitude of reinforcement is large
• It is delivered consistently
• Reinforcement is unavailable for competing (nontarget) responses
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Ethical Considerations
• Like positive reinforcement, ethical issues arise
from the severity of the EO that may need to be in
place to motivate the occurrence of the behavior
• The presence of particularly aversive antecedent
stimuli may be problematic
• These stimuli may generate undesirable competing
behaviors
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