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3.9: Procedures to Increase Behaviors

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    In negative reinforcement, a stimulus is present, and the occurrence of the targeted behavior removes the stimulus (Cooper et al., 2007). For example, a difficult task is presented, the student asks the teacher for help, the difficult task is removed, and over time the frequency of the student asking the teacher for help increases. With positive reinforcement, when the targeted behavior occurs, something is added to the environment, and that behavior is more likely to occur in the future. What often gets added is called reinforcers and the types of reinforcers include unconditioned reinforcers (i.e., food, drink) and conditioned reinforcers (i.e., edible, sensory, tangible, activity, social; Cooper et al., 2007). Reinforcers have different values for different individuals; therefore, reinforcer assessments are conducted to identify potential reinforcers. This is done by asking the student, asking others who know the student well, observing the student, or using trial-based methods (i.e., single, paired, multiple; Carr, Nicolson, & Higbee, 2000).

    Along with the potential value of reinforcers to the student, other factors related to effectiveness include when it is provided (i.e., immediacy), the level of effort required to perform the behavior and the likelihood of the delivery of the reinforcer (i.e., response effort), availability of the reinforcer elsewhere, and motivational effect (i.e., how much does the student want it based on the state of deprivation or satiation; Michael, 2000). Reinforcers can be provided on a continuous or an intermittent schedule, immediately after the behavior or after a delay, and the decision to use one schedule of reinforcement or another can have predictable effects on the consistency of performance and rate of response. This determines when the reinforcer is provided—immediately or after a delay (i.e., interval schedule) or after a specific number of responses (i.e., ratio schedule). For example, when a student is learning addition facts, the teacher may provide continuous reinforcement (after every response) to get the quickest learning rate, then fade the schedule to reinforcement after every third response (fixed ratio 3) based on student response.

    This page titled 3.9: Procedures to Increase Behaviors is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Samuel Sennott, Sheldon Loman, Kristy Lee Park, Luis F. Pérez, Michael J. Kennedy, John Romig, & Wendy J. Rodgers (Portland State University Library) .