Schedules of Reinforcement

1. Schedules of Reinforcement Elise Stine

2. Brief Overview, Skinner’s Perspective Reinforcement: creating situations that a person likes or removing a situation they don’t like. Punishment: removing a situation a person likes or setting up one they don't like. Skinner believed that positive reinforcement was superior to punishment in altering behavior. He was convinced that punishment was not the opposite of positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement results in lasting behavioral modification, whereas punishment changes behavior only temporarily and presents many difficult side effects

3. Positive reinforcement: the adding of an appetitive stimulus to increase a certain behavior or response.? Example: Father gives candy to his daughter when she picks up her toys. Punishment (positive punishment): the adding of an aversive stimulus to decrease a certain behavior or response.? Example: Mother yells at a child when running into the street. Negative reinforcement: the taking of an aversive stimulus to increase certain behavior or response.? Example: taking away facebook to increase study time Negative punishment (omission training): the taking away of an appetitive stimulus to decrease a certain behavior.? Example: Taking away a night light when child does not go to bed.

4. Schedules When an animal's surroundings are controlled it’s behavior forms patterns after reinforcement become predictable. A schedule of reinforcement is a rule or guarantee that determines how and when the response will be followed by the delivery of the reinforcer.

5. Continuous Reinforcement A schedule of reinforcement in which every time the action produces the reinforcer Lab example: each time a rat presses a bar it gets a pellet of food Real world example: each time a kid puts a quarter in the gumball machine they get a gumball Creates a great response and a dramatic increase in behavior

6. Fixed Ratio Schedules deliver reinforcement after every nth response (after every set amount of attempts) Lab example: rat reinforced with food after each 3rd time it presses the bar Real-world example: you work at a dealership and get a bonus for every three cars you sell Activity slows after reinforcer and then picks up

7. Variable Ratio Schedule A reinforcement schedule in which the number of responses necessary to produce reinforcement varies from trial to trial Lab example: the first pellet is delivered on 2 bar presses, second pellet delivered on 6 bar presses, third pellet 4 bar presses Real-world example: slot machines, you win at a various rate High rate of responding with the greatest activity of all schedules, responding rate is high and stable

8. Fixed Interval Reinforced after every nth amount of time has passed Example: reinforcement provided for the first response after 1 second and again after another second Lab example: rat is reinforced for the first bar press after 15 seconds passes since the last reinforcement Real-world example: you are rewarded with recess after so many hours in class Activity increases as deadline nears, can cause fast extinction

9. Variable Interval Reinforced on an average every nth amount of time Example: first pellet delivered after 2 minutes, second delivered after 6 minutes, third is delivered after 4 minutes (averages 4) Lab example: a rat is reinforced for the first bar press after an average of 10 seconds passes since the last reinforcement Real-world example: you check your email on average every 30 minutes and you are rewarded with mail Steady activity results, good resistance to extinction

10. VR=Variable ratio FR= fixed ratio VI=variable interval FI=fixed interval

11. Additional Schedule Types Compound schedules: combined two or more different simple schedules using the same reinforcer to achieve a single behavior. Superimposed schedules: two or more simple schedules of operate simultaneously. Reinforcers can be positive, negative, or both. As an example, you are coming home after a long day at work. The behavior of opening the front door is rewarded by a big kiss by your spouse and a rip in the pants from your dog jumping on you. Concurrent schedules: schedules that are simultaneously available so that the participant can respond on either schedule. For example, a rat is faced with two bars; responses can be made on either, and food reinforcement might follow a tapped bar on either. They may be independent, or they may be linked so that behavior on one key affects the likelihood of reinforcement on the other.

12. Sources Skinner, B.F. (1970). Walden Two. Macmillan, Toronto. Skinner, B.F., 1974, About Behaviorism Patrick J. Montana, & Bruce H. Charnov. (2008). Management, 4th Edition. Barron's Educational Series. pp. 247. http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ceed/publications/tipsheets/preschoolbehaviortipsheets/schedule.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schedule_of_reinforcement.png http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/faculty/wasserman/glossary/schedules.html