Positive Reinforcement: Behavior Principles

Positive Reinforcement Defined

• Follow a behavior with reinforcement to increase its future frequency
• Timing matters between the end of a response and the start of the stimulus change
• The relationship between stimulus conditions when the response was given must be considered
• Motivation plays an important role

Operation and Effect of Positive Reinforcement

• Positive reinforcement involves a response followed by a stimulus change
• Stimulus change leads to an increase in similar responses in occurrance
• Positive reinforcement is the most widely used principle of behavior

Reinforcer Effects

• The stimulus presented after a behavior will increase responding and is called a positive reinforcer
• A reinforcer does not affect the response it follows, but it changes the likelihood of similar future responses
• Rate, duration, latency, interresponse time, magnitude, and/or topography of behavior may be altered through reinforcement

Reinforcement Immediacy

• Behavior closest in time to the reinforcer will be strengthened
• Delays in consequences do not directly reinforce behavior
• Language combined with consequences can influence future behavior through rules
• A rule is a verbal description of a behavioral contingency

Rule-Governed Behavior

• Behavior can be controlled by a verbal statement of an antecedent-behavior-consequence contingency
• Rule-following allows behavior to be controlled by temporally remote or improbable consequences,

Indicators of Rule-Governed Behavior

• No immediate consequence is apparent
• Response-consequence delay exceeds 30 seconds
• Behavior changes occur without reinforcement
• A large increase in behavior follows a single instance of reinforcement
• Behavior occurs even without a consequence

Avoiding Circular Reasoning

• Circular reasoning is faulty logic where the effect is mistaken for the cause
• Reinforcement is not circular, because the response-consequence relation has separable components
• One can manipulate the delivery of a consequence, in order to determine its effects on the behavior
• Reinforcement shows a functional relationship between an immediate stimulus change and increased future occurrences of similiar behaviors

Reinforcement and Antecedent Stimuli

• Reinforcement alters the function of stimuli that precede the reinforced behavior
• Antecedent events can become able to evoke the reinforced response
• Responding when the discriminative stimulus is present results in reinforcement, whereas responding in the presence of the stimulus delta does not
• The addition of a discriminative stimulus transforms the two-term contingency into the three-term contingency: Antecedent – Behavior – Consequence

Motivation's Role

• Motivating operations change the effectiveness of stimulus changes as reinforcement
• A learner must already "want" a stimulus change for it to reinforce behavior
• Establishing operations increase the current effectiveness of a reinforcer
• Abolishing operations decrease the current effectiveness of a reinforcer
• Including a motivating operation in a discriminated operant results in a four-term contingency: Antecedent – Motivating Operation – Behavior – Consequence

Automaticity and Behavior

• Undestanding or verbalizing is not required between actions and consequences for reinforcement to occur

Behavior Arbitrariness

• Reinforcement occurs independently of logical or adaptive connections between behavior and consequence
• Reinforcement strengthens any behavior that immediately precedes it

Automatic Reinforcement

• The behavior-stimulus change relation that occurs without the presentation of consequences by other people
• Behavior that persists despite the lack of any known reinforcer

Reinforcer Classification by Origin

• Two types of reinforcers exist: unconditioned and conditioned

Unconditioned Reinforcers

• A stimulus change that is a reinforcer, despite the learner not having specific associations with it

Conditioned Reinforcers

• Stimulus changes acting as reinforcers only through stimulus-stimulus pairing

Generalized Conditioned Reinforcers

• Conditioned reinforcers paired with many unconditioned and conditioned reinforcers
• Do not rely on current establishing operations in order to function
• Examples include: money, tokens, points, and verbal praise

Reinforcer Classification by Formal Properties

• Formal properties and examples of reinforcers include:
• Edible: preferred foods, snacks, candy, drinks
• Sensory: vibration, tactile stimulation, flashing lights, music
• Tangible: stickers, trinkets, school materials, trading cards
• Activity: everyday activities, privileges, special events
• Social: physical contact, proximity, attention, praise

The Premack Principle

• High-rate behavior made contingent on low-frequency behavior to reinforce the low-frequency behavior
• Example: “You can play outside after you finish your math problems.”

Response-Deprivation Hypothesis

• Predicts if access to one behavior will function as reinforcement for another
• Contingent behavior access must represent a restriction compared to baseline engagement
• Example: Limiting video game time to 30 minutes unless homework is done

Identifying Potential Reinforcers

• Stimulus preference assessment identifies potential reinforcers
• Assessment involves a three-step process:
• Gathering a stimuli pool
• Presenting the stimuli systematically
• Experimentally testing hi/lo-preference items to detemrine if they function as reinforcers

Stimulus Preference Assessment Forms

• Single-stimulus (SS)
• Paired-stimulus (PS)
• Free operant (FO)
• Multiple-stimulus with item replacement (MSW)
• Multiple-stimulus without item replacement (MSWO)

Stimulus Assessments Assets and Barriers

• MSWO
• Assets: Identifies multiple reinforcers quickly
• Barriers: Positional bias, limited to smaller items
• PS
• Assets: Identifies multiple reinforcers, accommodates larger items
• Barriers: Positional bias, time
• SS
• Assets: Identifies multiple reinforcers, accommodates larger items
• Barriers: False positives
• FO
• Assets: Less likely to evoke problems, requires minimal time, accommodates larger items
• Barriers: Less likely to identify multiple reinforcers

Guidelines for Selecting and Using Assessments

• Monitor the learner's activities before the assessment for possibly effecting establishing behaviors that may effect the results
• Balance the cost-benefit to choose between short and long stimulus preference assessments
• Balance using preference methods yielding preferred stimuli rankings, against those occuring more frequently, but not having rankings
• Shorten assessment time by limiting items

Reinforcer Determination

• Combine data from multiple assessment methods and sources
• Verify that stimuli serve as reinforcers
• Recognize preference shifts; further SPAs may be needed
• Categorize stimuli for ease of SPA assessment

Reinforcer Assessmen

• Direct, data-based methods using stimuli contingent on a target response and measure the future effects on the rate of responding

Preference Assessment vs Reinforcer Assessment

• Preference Assessments are done before to gather information about the individual's preferences
• Reinforcer Assessments identify whether these preferred items work as reinforcers for specific behaviors

Types of Reinforcer Assessments

• In-the-moment reinforcer analysis
• A learner's response immediately followed by the presentation of a stimulus change
• The effect is assessed by changes in the future occurence of similiar responses
• Concurrent schedule of reinforcement
• Multiple reinforcement contingencies operating independently and simultaneously across behaviors
• Compares stimuli against each other to measure larger changes in responses
• Multiple schedule of reinforcement
• Using two or more component schedules of reinforcement for a single response
• A discriminative stimulus signals which component schedule is in effect
• Progressive-ratio schedule of reinforcement
• Response requirements increased systematically; independent of the participant's behavior
• Practicioner gradually requires more responses per presentation of the preferred stimulus; until a threshold is reached and the response rate declines

Positive Reinforcement: Control Procedures

• Positive reinforcement control procedures used to:
• Manipulate presentation of a potential reinforcer
• Observe effects to find the future frequency of behavior
• Control involves showing that presentation of the stimulus when the target response is received, functions as positive reinforcement

Control Demonstration

• Comparing response rates with and without a contingency
• Showing behavior can be turned on/off (or increase/decrease) with the presence and absence of a contingency

Schedules of Reinforcement: Control Procedures

• Noncontingent Reinforcement
• Reinforcer presented on a fixed-time (FT) or variable-time (VT) schedule, independently of behavior
• Differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO)
• Reinforcer delivered if target behavior doesn't happen at a point in time or over a set interval
• Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA)
• Reinforcer presented when desirable alternative behaviours occur

Positive Reinforcement: Application

• Nine recommendations for effective implementation:
• Set achievable initial criteria for reinforcement
• Sufficient magnitude of high-quality reinforcers
• Keep establishing operations effective using varied reinforcers
• Favour direct dependencies, over indirect ones when delivering reinforcment
• Combine reinforcment with prompts
• Reinforcement is initially delivered each time
• Give attention and descriptive praise
• Lengthen the the delivery delay of reinforcment in the response over time
• Naturally-occuring over contrived reinforcers are gradually shifted

Negative Reinforcement Contingency

• Responding removes, reduces, postpones, or avoids a stimulus, which increases the future occurrence of that response
• Examples: Avoiding a loud noise with an alarm clock, removing a disruptive task or escaping a situation

Four-Term Contingency for Negative Reinforcement

• EO: event that establishes the reinforcing effect of escaping
• SD: presence increases the chance a response is reinforced
• Response: act resulting in reinforcement
• Reinforcer: termination of the event that establishes the EO

Comparison: Positive and Negative Reinforcement

• A stimulant absent, that is maintained by the behavior of positive reinforcement
• The behaviour of negative reinforcement terminates a stimulus that has been pre-existing

Comparison: Negative Reinforcement and Punishment

• The same stimulus can serve as a negative reinforcer in one context and a punisher in a different context
• A negative reinforcement contingency terminates a stimulus that was present beforehand in order to increase a respond
• A punishment contingency introduces a stimulus that was absent originally, and in doing so has to be decrease a respond

Escape and Avoidance Contingencies

• Negative reinforcement means that the escaping of the ongoing stimulus had to be terminated in some way
• Preventing of the process or the delay of introducing the stimulus means that the response had to be charactherized by an avoidance

Environmental Arrangements for Contingencies

• Discriminated avoidance in response to a stimuli prevents onset from occuring which escape can reinforce
• Free-Operant avoidance, or responding in the absence of the signal, means that the behavior is "free to occur" at any time
• The environment-behavior connection is well identifiable as evocotive and maintaining regarding the avoidance that are less understandable

Response Aquisition and Maintenance

• Any successfully terminated stimulation will be more inclined to strengthen itself
• While dangerous or disruptive, some behaviors are appropriate to a degree socially

Negative Reinforcers and How It Effects You

• The removal is synonymous with the desciption of a 'negative reinforcer'
• “Negative reinforcers include shock, noise, parental nagging” is an incomplete description
• If the behavior presented before causes this will act as a punishment after

Negative Reinforcement: Learning History

• Negative influences can effect behavior
• This inherited abilities lead to the effects of learning through history

Learning History: Negative Reinforcement

• Unconditioned negative reinforcers are able to strenghten behaviors without prior learning
• These are from loud noise and harsh bright to intense temperatures and strong pressure on the body
• Effects can come about when a neutral pair (social coercion) is placed along side another negative reinforcer

Source of Negative Reinforcement

• Classification is based on how they are removed, automatic or social
• Considering source enables the design of effective behavior-change procedures

Context

• The the EO needs to have identifying emphasis if assessing consequences
• May be gone or observed once negative influences have concluded
• EO identification might be difficult with limited individuals

Effective Behavior Interventions

• Behaviours a person may use for change
• Target responses require for reinforcement
• Competing nontargets in regards to responses

Acquiring and Maintaining Apropriate Behaviour

• Researchers used food acceptance as a negative reinforcement intervention, and also to terminate and follow a trial

Problem Behavior

• O'reilly assessed episodic behaviour in a person's actions
• The demand causes frustration and negative reinforcement, which in turn shows the aggressive behavior

Behaviour Factors

• O'reilly shows how medical demands can show problematic results, where low quality caregivers exhibit verbal statements
• To decrease behaviors, a caregiver should create a variety of demands, and by asking for less quality/ unpleasant stories

Negative Reinforcement: Extinction

• Behaviours can be decreased be witholding negative reinforcement and avoiding past consequences to decrease behavior
• All factors require extinction, procedural variations and the historical effect on outcome

Replacing Behavior

• Social is more important when replacing with a negative reinforcement to treat others with appropriate action and behavior
• -- Help and finish tasks and or following the leaders requests

Behavioral Strategies: Positive Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement can deliver small, edible objects or have a compliant replacement if a problem arrises

Complimentary Effect: Responding and Function

• Miller, Lerman, and Fritz show how behavior can be the product from reprimands due to negative reinforcement
• The actions from the behavior may be related to a response that is successful or non-effective

Reinforcement Implications

• A caregiver might attempt to escape behavior
  • The caregivers would also require some effect, although, they will stay passive Underscoring the importance might make them inappropiate

Ethical Consideration: Interventions

• Intervenions may harm others with certain bad behaviours
• This behavior should not be used for any program change
• Desired behaviors can compete when aversive stimili is present
• This stimili promotes underirable effects to be monitored when change programs are occuring

Chaining

• A string attached to a sequence of responses and leading to a conclusive end

Behavior Chains - The steps

• A responses for conditional reinforcement
  • Reinforcement for the stimulus

Chain Characteristics - Specific responses

• Behaviors have important links that can reinforce preceding links
• Responses also have to be very specific in temporal successions

Chain Rationale

• Methodologies for sequences and how they connect stimuli
• Increase the independance of people by building adaptive and intricate repertoires

Chain Establishing - Task Analyses

• Task are broken down and sequentially ordered
• Can be individualised from ones age to there experience Behavior Chaining Methods

There are 4 main chaining actions

• Forward
• Total task chain
• Backward actions and chains
• Backwards that has leap aids

What Method should i use?

• There is no real defined way to solve the issue