ch. 7: increasing behaviour with conditioned reinforcement

unconditioned reinforcers

stimuli that are reinforcing without prior learning or conditioning

examples of unconditioned reinforcers

food, warmth, sex

conditioned reinforcers

stimuli that were not originally reinforcing but have become reinforcers by being paired with other reinforcers

example of conditioned reinforcers

smell, taste and sensation from cigarettes, paired with nicotine in bloodstream

backup reinforcers

reinforcer on which a conditioned reinforcer is based and which give conditioned reinforcers their strength

tokens

conditioned reinforcers that can be accumulated and exchanged for backup reinforcers

token economy

behaviour modification program where individuals can earn tokens for specific behaviours and cash in tokens for backup reinforcers

example of token economy

money can be accumulated and exchanged for a variety of backup reinforcers

simple conditioned reinforcer

a conditioned reinforcer that is paired with a single backup reinforcer

generalized conditioned reinforcer

a stimulus that is paired with more than one kind of backup reinforcer

factors that influence the effectiveness of CR

1. strength of backup reinforcers

2. number of backup reinforcers

3. number of pairings with backup reinforcers

4. loss of value of a conditioned reinforcer

example of number of backup reinforcers

money. able to purchase many things which would be considered backup reinforcers

example of number of pairings with backup reinforcers

the action of giving praise multiple times directly after a desirable behaviour “good job”

example of loss of value of a conditioned reinforcer

stop giving a conditioned reinforcer after behaviour

• taking away AS coke

two pitfalls of conditioned reinforcement

• unaware misapplication

• partial-knowledge misapplication

unaware misapplication

pairing reinforcers with what are meant to be punishers

• eg: getting mad at a kid but feeling bad so give them candy

partial-knowledge misapplication

ceasing to pair conditioned reinforcers with their backups

• eg: teacher gives praise without backup reinforcement