Understanding Positive and Negative Reinforcement in Behavior Modification

1. Reinforcement: Part 1 Week 5: Increasing Behavior

2. Positive Reinforcement • Delivered Immediately after a behavior • Delivered contingent upon a behavior • Increases probability of future behavior

3. Potential Rule Governed Behavior • When no immediate consequence • Behavior changes without reinforcement • Large increase in behavior follows one instance of reinforcement • Rule exists

4. Some important Points • We do not reinforce people • Practice is not reinforcement • Feedback is not always reinforcement • Artificial Reinforcement does not mean “fake”

5. Motivating Operations • Establishing Operations: Increases temporarily the immediate effectiveness of a reinforcer. • Deprivation • Abolishing Operations: Decreases temporarily the immediate effectiveness of a reinforcer • Satiation

7. 4 term Contingency EO A B C No water Drinking Drink Fluid intake Fountain

8. Reinforcement Classification • Unconditioned • Unlearned • Primary • Conditioned • Secondary • Learned

9. Generalized Conditioned Reinforcement • Neutral Stimulus that is paired with many other reinforcers • The more reinforcers are paired with a neutral stimulus the more likely the neutral stimulus becomes a GCR • E.g. money

10. Premack Principle • LPR Before access to HPR • Response-Deprivation Hypothesis (Timberlake & Allison, 1974). • This is an important consideration when developing treatments. • Don’t just make HPR contingent. • It must be contingent and be deprived relative to free operant levels!

11. Identifying Potential Reinforcers • Stimulus Preference Assessment • Ask People • Open ended questions • Choice Format • Rank-ordering • Observe • Contrived • Naturalistic • Experiment • Single Stimulus • Paired Stimuli • Multiple Stimuli

12. Identifying Potential Reinforcers Continued • Reinforcer Assessment • Concurrent Schedule of Reinforcement • May cause premature rejection (preference does not mean ineffective reinforcer). • Multiple Schedule Reinforcer Assessment • Progressive-Ratio Schedule Reinforcer Assessment • Increase response effort (schedule) and see how behavior changes.

13. Other Methods of Identifying Reinforcers • ABAB • Non-contingent Reinforcement • Differential Reinforcement

14. Non-Contingent Reinforcement? • What is wrong with this term? • Presenting Reinforcement on a time schedule

15. Tips for Using Reinforcement • Easily Achieved Initial Criterion • Sufficient Magnitude of Reinforcer • Vary Reinforcer • Direct contingencies when possible • Use prompts with reinforcement • Reinforce each occurrence initially • Use praise/attention with other reinforcers • Gradually increase response-to-reinforcement delay (some call this fading – it is not – Thinning)

16. Negative Reinforcement • Removal of aversive stimulus • Immediately after a behavior • Increases probability of behavior in future

17. Escape Versus Avoidance • Escape – Termination • Avoidance – Prevention

18. Examples?

19. Schedules of Reinforcement

20. Fixed Ratio • Reinforcement delivered after a specific number of target responses are emitted. • Post Reinforcement Pause • Larger the ratio longer the PRP • DeLuca & Holborn (1990) • Provided FR schedule to pedaling behavior of fat people. Fat people started pedaling more

21. Variable Ratio • Reinforcement provided contingent upon a variable number of responses. • Strong Consistent Performance • Group Contingencies makes use of VR Schedules

22. Fixed Interval • Reinforcement provided after first response after specified period of time. • PRP and Scallop Effect • Slow rates of responding

23. Variable Interval • Reinforcement provided after first response after variable duration of time elapsed. • Constant stable rate of responding • Limited Hold: amount of time R+ is available once interval elapses.

24. Differential Reinforcement • DR-Other • DR-Alternate • DR-Icompatiable • DR-Lower Rates • DR-Higher Rates

25. Compound Schedules of Reinforcement • Can be: • Successive or simultaneously • With or without discriminative stimuli • Reinforcement for each element or for the combination of all.

26. Concurrent Schedules of Reinforcement • 2 contingencies of reinforcement operating independently and simultaneously • E.g. you can study or go out for the night • Behaviors are Matched to maximize rates of reinforcement

27. Discriminative Schedules • Multiple Schedule (Stimulus discrimination) • Alternating two or more schedules • Uses an S+ to signal each schedule • (e.g. 1 behavior class but two different situations for two different reinforcement schedules) • Chained Schedule • Specific order of presentation • Behavior may be different for each schedule • All schedules must be complete for final outcome

28. Nondiscriminative Schedules • Mixed Schedules • Same as Mult. But no discriminative stimulus • FR15/FI1 sometimes after FR15 and sometimes after FI1 • Tandem Schedules • Same as chained but no discriminative stimulus • FR 15/FI2 means first instance will be 15 response and second will be in 2 minutes

29. Combined Schedules • Alternative Schedules • Either or Schedule (whichever comes first) • Conjunctive Schedules • Both Schedules being met before reinforcement is provided

30. Matching Law • Myerson Article