Cooper Ch 11 (3rd edition) - Positive Reinforcement

automatic reinforcement

Reinforcement that occurs independent of the social mediation of others (e.g., scratching an insect bite relieves the itch).

conditioned reinforcer

A stimulus change that functions as a reinforcer because of prior pairing with one or more other reinforcers; sometimes called secondary or learned reinforcer

generalized conditioned reinforcer (GCR)

A conditioned reinforcer that as a result of having been paired with many other reinforcers does not depend on an establishing operation for any particular form of reinforcement for its effectiveness

positive reinforcement

A response followed immediately by the presentation

of a stimulus change that results in similar responses occurring more often.

positive reinforcer

A stimulus whose presentation or onset functions as reinforcement.

Premack principle

A principle that states that making the opportunity to engage in a HighP bx contingent on the occurrence of a low frequency bx will function as reinforcement for the low frequency bx

reinforcer assessment

Refers to a variety of direct, empirical methods for presenting one or more stimuli contingent on a target response and measuring their effectiveness as reinforcers.

response-deprivation hypothesis

A model for predicting whether contingent access to one bx will function as reinforcement for engaging in another bx based on whether access to the contingent bx represents a restriction of the activity compared to the baseline level of engagement

rule-governed behavior

Behavior controlled by a rule (i.e., a verbal statement of an antecedent-behavior consequence contingency); enables human behavior (e.g., fastening a seat belt) to come under the indirect control of temporally remote or improbable, but potentially significant consequences (e.g., avoiding injury in an auto accident). Often used in contrast to contingency-shaped behavior, a term used to indicate behavior selected and maintained by controlled, temporally close consequences.

socially mediated contingencies

A contingency in which

an antecedent stimulus and/or the consequence for the behavior is presented by

another person.

stimulus preference assessment

A variety of procedures used to determine the stimuli that a person prefers, the relative preference values (high versus low) of those stimuli, the conditions under which those preference values remain in effect, and their presumed value as reinforcers.

unconditioned reinforcer

A stimulus change that increases the frequency of any bx that immediately precedes it irrespective of the organism's learning history with the stimulus. UR are the product of the evolutionary development of the species (phylogeny). Also called primary or unlearned reinforcer

Reinforcement only increases the frequency with which similar responses are emitted in the FUTURE.

true

discriminative stimulus (SD)

An antecedent stimulus correlated with the availability of reinforcement for a particular response class

stimulus control

When a person learns to make more responses in the presence of the SD rather than in its absence

motivating operations

Alter the current value of stimulus changes as reinforcement

establishing operation

An MO that increases the current effectiveness of a reinforcer

Four term contingency

abolishing operation

An MO that decreases the current effectiveness of a reinforcer

Four term contingency

automaticity of reinforcement

Refers to the fact that a person does not have to understand or verbalize the relation between his actions and a reinforcing consequence, or for that matter even be aware that a consequence has occurred

An activity that serves as effective reinforcement for one learner might have quite another effect on the behavior of another learner

true

noncontingent reinforcement

NCR

the presentation of a potential reinforcer on a FT or VT schedule independent of the occurrence of the target bx.

differential reinforcement of other behavior

DRO

Delivers a potential reinforcer whenever the target behavior has NOT occurred during a set time interval.

differential reinforcement of alternative behavior

DRA

The potential reinforcer is presented contingent on occurrences of a desirable alternative to the target behavior

concurrent

When two or more contingencies of reinforcement operate independently and simultaneously for 2 or more bxs, what schedule of reinforcement is in effect?