Arranging Consequences that Increase Behavior

1. Arranging Consequences that Increase Behavior

2. Reinforcers Primary Secondary Natural Contrived

3. Positive Reinforcement • Contingent presentation of a stimulus, immediately following a response, that INCREASES the future rate and/or probability of the response • Refers to the relationship between the behavior and the consequence

4. Positive Reinforcer “the consequential stimulus event itself. It: • Increases or maintains the future rate and/or probability of occurrence of a behavior • Is administered contingently upon the production of a desired or requested behavior • Is administered immediately following the production of the desired or requested behavior

5. Primary reinforcers • Stimuli that have biological importance to an individual • Food, liquids, shelter, sex, sleep, etc • Must be in a state of deprivation if food reinforcer is to be effective • Satiation – primary reinforcer loses its effectiveness

6. 6 Ways to Delay Satiation • Assign a particular reinforcer to each instructional task • Shorten the instructional session in which the edible reinforcer is being used • Switch to an alternative reinforcer • Decrease the size of pieces • Have an array of reinforcers • Reinforce every third correct response

7. 9-step sequence for selecting reinforcers • Consider age, interests, and appetites of the person whose behaviors you with to strengthen; • Consider the behavior you wish to strengthen through reinforcement • List potential reinforcers • The Premack Principle • Consider asking the person • Consider novel reinforcers • Consider reinforcers that are natural • Select the reinforcer(s) you will use • Make a record of the behavior

8. Other Reinforcers • Generalized reinforcer: when a reinforcer is associated with a variety of behaviors or with access to a variety of other primary or secondary reinforcers • Social reinforcer: a secondary reinforcer used almost unconsciously and unsystematically by teachers and includes demonstrations of approval or attention • Secondary reinforcers: should replace primary reinforcers. Also known as conditioned reinforcers. These include social stimuli, preferred activities, and/or tokens • Pairing: combined use of primary and secondary reinforcers

9. Token Economy Reinforcement Program • It is a symbolic reinforcement system where students receive tokens for specific appropriate behaviors, which may be exchanged for objects or activities that have been identified as reinforcing. • As students learn to associate the tokens with the purchase of reinforcers, the tokens themselves become reinforcing.

10. What students need to know about a token system • What behaviors are required • What are the backup reinforcers • The cost of each backup reinforcer • When tokens can be exchanged for the backup reinforcers

11. Sample Token System • Behavior Required: Raise your hand and provide answer or contribution to class discussion…onlywhen called upon. • Back up reinforcers: candy • Cost: one ticket per piece of candy • When can tokens be exchanged?: at the end of class

12. Premack Principle • When low frequency behaviors are followed by by high frequency behaviors • Effect is to increase the probability of the low frequency behavior

13. Praise • Delivered contingent upon performance of target behavior • Should be specific • Should sound sincere

14. Contracting • A way to systematize the use of reinforcers • Placing the contingency for reinforcement into a written document • A product of reasonable negotiations involving the student and teachers and parents • Includes the behavior, conditions, criterion and reinforcer • Contract must be positive, fair, clear, and used consistently

15. Group Contingencies and Peer Mediation • Much research to support that the use of peers is effective with students • Increase cooperative behavior • Peer pressure is a powerful tool but can have negative side effects • Each member of the group must be capable of performing the target behavior • See pages 242 and 243 for more discussion

16. Schedules of Reinforcement • Continuous (CRF): (1:1) • Extinction: Rapid loss of behavior when reinforcement is withheld (see chap 8) • Intermittent: • Ratio schedule • Fixed • Variable • Interval schedule: • Fixed • Variable • Response-Duration

17. Intermittent Schedule of Reinforcement • Ratio Schedule: reinforcer delivered per NUMBER • Fixed: Only after a specific number of tasks are completed • Variable: Delivered following an average number of occurrences • Interval Schedule: reinforcer delivered per TIME • Fixed: Only after a specific number of minutes have passed • Variable: Delivered following an average number of minutes • Thinning – helps decrease dependence on artificial reinforcers and helps students learn to delay gratification

18. Negative Reinforcement Cycle • Student is confronted with an aversive stimulus • Student engages in inappropriate behavior • Teacher removes aversive stimulus • Student is negatively reinforced for the inappropriate behavior • Next time the student in confronted by the aversive stimulus, the cycle is repeated