Chapter 04 - Reinforcement (pt. 2)

Factors that influence the effectiveness of reinforcement

Immediacy, contingency, motivating operations, individual differences, magnitude

Immediacy

time between occurrence of a behavior and reinforcing consequence is important - the longer the delay of the consequence after the behavior is performed, the more the connection between the behavior and consequence is weakened

Rule governed behavior

behavior that is controlled by a verbal statement about a contingency between the behavior and a consequence

In what situation can immediacy still be effective when the consequence to a behavior is delayed?

delayed consequences can still have an effect but only when a rule is stated about that delayed consequence (rule governed)

Rule governed behavior example

putting food in the oven when we know after it bakes for an hour we can have that food

Contingency

a relationship between a response and a consequence in which the consequence is presented only if the response occurs - when such a relationship exists, the consequence is said to be contingent on the response

Contingency example

turning the key in the ignition to start a car - behavior of turning key is reinforced because the engine starts every time the key is turned

Motivating operations

an event that alters the value of a reinforcer and therefore alters the probability of the behavior that produces that reinforcer

Two effects of motivating operations

alters the value of a reinforcer

they make the behavior that produces that reinforcer more or less likely to occur at that time

Establishing operation (EO)

makes a reinforcer more potent (establishes the effectiveness of a reinforcer)

Deprivation

a type of EO that increases the effectiveness of most unconditioned reinforcers and some conditioned reinforcers

Deprivation example

a reinforcer such as food/water is more appealing to someone who is hungry/thirsty vs. someone who isn't

Abolishing operation (AO)

makes a reinforcer less potent (abolishes/decreases effectiveness of a reinforcer)

Satiation

occurs when a person has recently consumed a large amount of a reinforcer (food/water) or had substantial exposure to a reinforcing stimulus and, as a result, these reinforcers are less potent at that time

Satiation example

first slice of a pizza is more reinforcing than the 4th/5th slice

Instructions or rules

_____ or ______ can also function as EO/AO and influence the reinforcing value of a stimulus

AO and negative reinforcement

an event decreases aversiveness of a stimulus, escape from/removal becomes less reinforcing

EO and negative reinforcement

an event increases the aversiveness of a stimulus, escape from/removal of stimulus becomes more reinforcing

Individual differences

the value of a reinforcer can vary from person to person

Individual differences example

Chocolate candy is a reinforcer for most children, but not for a child who has a chocolate allergy

Magnitude

Given the appropriate EO, generally, the effectiveness of a stimulus as a reinforcer is greater if the amount or magnitude of a stimulus is greater - this is true for both positive and negative reinforcement

Magnitude example

someone would work longer and harder for a large amount of money than for a small amount of money

Schedule of reinforcement

specifies whether every response or only some responses are followed by a reinforcer

Continuous reinforcement schedule (CRF)

each occurrence of a response is reinforced

Acquisition

person acquiring a new behavior with the use of CRF - development of a new behavior through reinforcement

Intermittent reinforcement schedule (IRF)

each occurrence of the response is not reinforced, but reinforcement is applied to the response occasionally

Maintenance

a newly acquired behavior is then maintained over time with the use of IRF

Fixed ratio (FR) schedule

a specific or fixed number of responses must occur in order for the reinforcer to be delivered

the reinforcer is given every fifth response

in a FR 5 schedule…

Variable ratio (VR) schedule

the number of responses needed for reinforcement varies each time around an average number

reinforcer is provided after an avg of 10 responses - number of responses needed for reinforcer can vary from 2 or 3 to 20 or 25, but the average number of responses equals 10

In a VR 10 schedule…

number

Both FR and VR schedules concern the _______ of responses

Fixed interval (FI) schedule

the reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after an interval of time has passed - the interval stays the same each time

the first response that occurs after 20 seconds has elapsed results in the reinforcer. Responses that happen before the 20 sec interval ends are not reinforced; they have no effect on the subsequent delivery of the reinforcer (they don't make it come sooner)

In a FI 20-second schedule of reinforcement…

Variable interval (VI) schedule

the first response that occurs after a specified time interval is reinforced - the time interval varies around an average value (intervals are not equal in length)

sometimes the interval is more than 20 sec and sometimes it is less, but the interval length is not predictable each time

In a VI 20-second schedule of reinforcement…

Describe how reinforcement may influence different dimensions of behavior

If a reinforcer is contingent on a particular dimension of behavior that dimension is more likely to occur in the future - This can apply to both increases and decreases of each dimension

increase in frequency

Ferster and Skinner found with their pigeons that with FI-30min schedules, responses made by the pigeons started to ____________ by the end of each 30 min period, and there was a lull in responses for the first part of the period

Variable interval (VI) schedule

the first response that occurs after a specified time interval is reinforced - the time interval varies around an average value (intervals are not equal in length)

sometimes the interval is more than 20 sec and sometimes it is less, but the interval length is not predictable each time

In a VI 20-second schedule of reinforcement…

variable interval, fixed interval

Ferster and Skinner found that _________ schedules produced a more steady rate of responses compared to _________ schedules, where responses would only increase near the end of each interval

Concurrent schedules of reinforcement

schedules of reinforcement that exist at the same time for two or more different behaviors

Concurrent operations

two or more different behaviors or response options that are concurrently available for the person - each response option is associated w/ a specific reinforcement schedule

Which particular behavior occurs at a particular time within concurrent operations depends on

schedule of reinforcement, magnitude of reinforcement, delay of reinforcement, response effort (time, force, exertion in executing a response) for the different response options

The matching law

mathematical model of choice in concurrent operations that predicts that a response producing a greater rate of reinforcement will occur more often than a response that produces a lower rate of reinforcement

Research concludes that people are more likely to engage in behavior that results in

More frequent reinforcement, Greater magnitude of reinforcement, More immediate reinforcement, Less response effort

Multiple schedule of reinforcement

two basic schedules of reinforcement occur sequentially/one after the other and each is associated w/ a different discriminative stimulus (environmental cue that can trigger a behavior leading to a reinforcer)

Behavioral contrast

occurs when a change in the reinforcement schedule in one component of a multiple schedule changes not only the rate of responding in that component but also the rate of responding in the opposite direction in the other component of the multiple schedule