Chapter 9 - Motivation, Reinforcer Efficacy, Habit Formation

Motivating Operation (MO)

An environmental and/or biological event that temporarily alters the value of a specific reinforcer, and increases or decreases the probability of behaviors yielding that reinforcer

Two kinds of Motivating Operations

Establishing Operations (EO) and Abolishing Operations (AO)

Reinforcer Survey 

A structured interview or written survey that asks the individual to identify highly preferred activities 

Stimulus Preference Assessment 

A rank-ordered list of preferred stimuli that is obtained by observing the choices between those stimuli. Used when working with nonhuman animals, or individuals with limited to no expressive language capabilities

Preference Hierarchy 

List of stimuli rank ordered from most to least preferred 

Premack Principle

Access to a high-probability behavior will function as a reinforcer when made contingent upon a low-probability behavior 

Breakpoint

The maximum amount of behavior the reinforcer will maintain

The four dimensions of effective reinforcers

Contingency, reinforcer size, reinforcer quality, reinforcer immediacy

Quality

The subjective value of a reinforcer, which can vary from one individual to the next

Habit

Operant behavior that is evoked by antecedent stimuli and persists despite the imposition of an AO. Has to be reinforced hundreds to thousands of times in the presence of the same antecedent stimulus