Measurement Application Assignment

O P E R A N T C O N D I T I O N I N G

Selection by Consequences

Types of Consequences

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

POSITIVE PUNISHMENT

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT

NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT

BEHAVIOR

ST IM

U LU

S

R em

ov ed

( -)

Pr es

en te

d (+

)

DecreasesIncreases

I N C R E A S I N G T H E F U T U R E P R O B A B I L I T Y O F B E H A V I O R S I N C E T H E D A W N O F T I M E

Reinforcement

R E I N F O R C E R :

A S T I M U L U S C H A N G E T H A T I N C R E A S E S T H E F U T U R E F R E Q U E N C Y O F T H E B E H A V I O R I T

I M M E D I A T E L Y F O L L O W S

A B B R E V I A T I O N : S r

3 Requirements

R E I N F O R C E R :

A S T I M U L U S C H A N G E T H A T I N C R E A S E S T H E F U T U R E F R E Q U E N C Y O F T H E B E H A V I O R I T

I M M E D I A T E L Y F O L L O W S

A B B R E V I A T I O N : S r

3 Requirements

R E I N F O R C E R :

A S T I M U L U S C H A N G E T H A T I N C R E A S E S T H E F U T U R E F R E Q U E N C Y O F T H E B E H A V I O R I T

I M M E D I A T E L Y F O L L O W S

A B B R E V I A T I O N : S r

3 Requirements

R E I N F O R C E R :

A S T I M U L U S C H A N G E T H A T I N C R E A S E S T H E F U T U R E F R E Q U E N C Y O F T H E B E H A V I O R I T

I M M E D I A T E L Y F O L L O W S

A B B R E V I A T I O N : S r

3 Requirements

IMPORTANT: A reinforcer is defined by it’s function; if it increases behavior, it is a reinforcer

You cannot know for sure whether a consequence is a reinforcer without seeing what it does to behavior

How do we talk about Reinforcement

 (to) Reinforce – the act of strengthening behavior  “I reinforced joke telling by laughing”  “I reinforced him for joke telling”

 Reinforcement – the process by which a behavior is strengthened; or, the operation of providing reinforcers  “I arranged for reinforcement to occur”  “The behavior was strengthened through reinforcement”  “I provided him reinforcement for jumping”

U N C O N D I T I O N E D / P R I M A R Y

C O N D I T I O N E D / S E C O N D A R Y

G E N E R A L I Z E D C O N D I T I O N E D

Different Classifications of Reinforcers

Unconditioned Reinforcers

 Require no learning to function as reinforcers

 Examples include:

 Primary reinforcers typically describe categories

•Water

•Food

•Shelter

•Escape from pain

•Sex

•Oxygen

Conditioned Reinforcers

 Learned reinforcers

 Generally formed through stimulus-stimulus pairing

 Examples include nearly every interaction or tangible item you can think of that function as reinforcers

Conditioning a Reinforcer

 How to make a neutral stimulus a conditioned reinforcer  Repeatedly present the neutral stimulus immediately before

another reinforcer is delivered (Stimulus-stimulus pairing)

Chubawuba

Not a reinforcing stimulus

Conditioning a Reinforcer

 How to make a neutral stimulus a conditioned reinforcer  Repeatedly present the neutral stimulus immediately before

another reinforcer is delivered (Stimulus-stimulus pairing)

Chubawuba +

Generalized Conditioned Reinforcers

 Stimuli associated with many other reinforcers

 As a result, this reinforcer is relatively free from current motivations

 Why is money such a powerful and ubiquitous reinforcer?

S E L E C T I N G A B E H A V I O R O U T O F A L L O F T H E P O S S I B I L I T I E S

Reinforcement and Behavior Selection

How is behavior selected through reinforcement

Crying Hitting "MOM"!

Mom is on the phone and her son wants her attention. He has several responses at his disposal.

Time

N um

be r

of R

es po

ns es

Mom decides to ignore her name Mom decides to ignore crying

Real life example (extinction)

T H E A R G U M E N T I S M A D E O N A F U N D A M E N T A L

M I S U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F T H E P R I N C I P L E O F R E I N F O R C E M E N T

But shouldn’t people do things because they are driven by internal

rewards?

I think all everyone should be intrinsically motivated!

Success as a Reinforcer

 Successful action can be its own reward

We are automatically reinforced, apart from any particular deprivation, when we successfully control the

physical world. (Skinner, 1953)

 This is not counter to the principle of reinforcement  Success is still a stimulus change that results from some

behavior.

A K A : G R A N D M A ’ S L A W

Premack Principle

Premack Principle

 Access to high probability behavior can be used to reinforce low probability behavior

70%

25%

5%

Which activities can be used to reinforce the other?

Premack Principle

 Grandma’s Law

No, you can’t have your dessert until you eat all of

your vegetables!

Why? Because vegetable eating is a 3% probability

behavior but dessert eating is a 46% probability

behavior

Applying the Premack Principle?

 How might you use the Premack Principle in a classroom or clinic setting?

 To identify a reinforcer, find out what the individual does on their own time  Identify the high probability behaviors.

S O C I A L L Y M E D I A T E D

V S

A U T O M A T I C

Types of Reinforcer Delivery

Socially-mediated Reinforcement

 Reinforcement produced through the behavior of someone else  As distinguished from automatic reinforcement

 Can be positive or negative

Automatic Reinforcement

 Reinforcement produced through engagement in the behavior  As distinguished from socially-mediated reinforcement

 Can be positive or negative Common Behaviors

Automatic Reinforcement

 Other examples:

What maintains each of these behaviors?

Automatic vs Socially Mediated

 Why is the distinction important?

 You are working with a kid who pulls his own hair. Which would you prefer?  He pulls his hair to get out of work  He pulls his hair for the sensation

 Automatically maintained behaviors are often more difficult to treat because you can’t easily control the reinforcer

Kierson aggression vs Eric stereotypy

D E T E R M I N I N G W H E N A B E H A V I O R W I L L O R W I L L N O T O C C U R

Discriminative Stimuli

Discriminative Stimuli

 Denoted SD  A stimulus in the presence of which certain behaviors have

been reinforced in the past

Sitting in the presence of the command = reinf

Sitting in the presence of no command= no reinf

The command “sit” is an SD for sitting behavior.

Other examples?

 A stimulus that “signals” reinforcement is available for a certain response.  Why? Because in the past that response has been reinforced

when it occurs in the presence of the stimulus.

Discriminative Stimulus (SD)

You are more likely to emit this behavior in the future under similar conditions

SD for handing over money

A N T E C E D E N T ( S D)  B E H A V I O R ( R )  C O N S E Q U E N C E ( S R)

3-term Contingency

Antecedent: Consequence: Behavior:

3- Term Contingency

Antecedents

A

Behavior

B

Consequence

C

Order Sushi

Discriminative Stimuli

This guy becomes a discriminative stimulus (SD) for the behavior of ordering sushi

In his presence, ordering sushi has resulted in reinforcement

Delta Stimuli (S-delta; S )

 A stimulus that signals no reinforcement is available for a certain response

S-deltas for ordering sushi

Discrimination

 When you response differently to different stimuli (e.g., ordering sushi under condition A but not B) we say you can discriminate

A – Order sushi

B – Don’t order sushi

Stimuli can have more than one function

He is an SD for asking for sushi

He is an S-delta for asking for a backrub

Other discriminative functions

 Some stimuli are associated with punishment for certain behaviors

 These are discriminative stimuli for punishment (SDP)

Ordering sushi when this sign is posted will likely result in punishment

Stimulus Control

 Discriminative Stimuli (SD):  Stimuli in the presence of which a specific response has been

reinforced

 S-delta (S ):  Stimuli in the presence of which a response has not been reinforced

 Discriminative Stimuli for Punishment (SDP):  Stimuli in the presence of which a specific response has been

punished

Other examples

 SD / S-delta / SDP for telling a dirty joke

 SD / S-delta / SDP for trying to take a sip of coffee

 SD / S-delta / SDP for raising my hand in a classroom

 SD / S-delta / SDP for drinking beer

 When we talk about reinforcement or punishment, we are talking about immediate outcomes of behavior

 If behavior changes because of direct contact with the outcome, we refer to these behaviors as contingency-shaped behavior

 You touch the stove and are burned; you don’t touch the stove in the future

Contingency-Shaped behavior

 Behavior can also change based on being told about contingencies, but not necessarily experiencing them  If behavior changes because of being told a contingency, this is

rule-governed behavior  It is behavior that is controlled by the verbal behavior of another

Rule-Governed behavior

 Contingency-shaped behavior  Behavior that is changed by directly experiencing the

contingency

 Rule-governed behavior  Behavior that is changed by being told about a contingency

Terms

 The controlling variables are different

 In contingency-shaped behavior  Behavior is controlled by motivation related to the consequence  If ice-cream is valuable, it can be used as a consequence to shape

behavior

 In rule-governed behavior  Behavior is controlled by motivations related to a history of following

rules  “Finish your peas and you can have dessert”

 This statement is motivator for following eating peas because you have a history of following rules and receiving reinforcement

Contingency-Shaped vs Rule-Governed behavior

 Important distinction  All organisms can have their behavior controlled by immediate

consequences

 Only verbal organisms can have their behavior controlled by indirect acting contingencies  Thus, only verbal organism can have their behavior controlled by

temporally distant events (to any large degree)

Contingency-Shaped vs Rule-Governed behavior

Contingency-Shaped vs Rule-Governed behavior

Summary

 Reinforcers  Consequences (they follow behavior)  Defined functionally

 If they increase behaviors, they are reinforcers  Increase behaviors they immediately follow

 Types of Reinforcers  Unconditioned

 Weren’t learned  food, shelter, water, etc.

 Conditioned  Became reinforcers by being paired with other reinforcers

 Praise, candy, movies, etc.

 Generalized Conditioned  Stimuli that are paired with many other reinforcers

 Money, tokens, etc.

Summary

 Conditioning Reinforcers  Present some stimulus immediately before another reinforcer  The stimulus will become a reinforcer

 Premack Principle  You can reinforce low probability behaviors with contingent

access to high probability behaviors  Eat your peas (low prob bx)  Play outside (high prob bx)  You can reinforce eating peas with the opportunity to play outside

Summary

 Types of Reinforcer Delivery  Socially-mediated

 Reinforcer is provided through the behavior of someone else  Giving someone a sticker

 Automatic  Reinforcer is produced directly by the behavior  Scratching an itch

 Behaviors maintained through socially-mediated reinforcement are typically easier to treat

Summary

 Stimulus Functions  Discriminative Stimuli (SD)

 Signal reinforcement is available for a given behavior

 S-Delta  Signal no reinforcement is available for a given behavior

 Discriminative Stimuli for Punishment  Signal punishment is available for a given behavior

Summary

 Contingency-shaped behavior  Behavior that is changed by direct experience with the

contingency surrounding the behavior

 Rule-governed behavior  Behavior that is changed by being told about the contingency

The End

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