Comprehensive Guide to Educational Reinforcers and Implementation

Definition of Reinforcer: A reinforcer is anything provided to a student immediately after they respond that increases the likelihood of them responding correctly again in the future.
Step 1: Types of Reinforcers:
- Praise
- High fives
- Snacks
- Toys
- Enjoyable activities
- Fun physical interactions
- Breaks from work
- Coins, stickers, or tokens that lead to a reward

Step 2: How to Identify Potential Reinforcers:
- Observation: Observe the student and look for specific items or activities they naturally choose to play with (e.g., checking if the student wants to play the piano).
- Snack Selection: Place a variety of snacks within the student's view and observe which specific snack they select.
- Tabletop Item Preference Assessment: Place a variety of items on a table and invite the student to select a toy to play with.
- Preference Ranking Procedure:
  1. Note which item the student picks first (e.g., moons).
  2. Remove that chosen item from the selection.
  3. Watch which item the student picks second.
- Target List Size: After sampling different items through preference assessments, construct a written list of at least 10 reinforcers to utilize during instruction.

Behavioral Indicators of Reinforcer Effectiveness:
- Behavior Repetition: The student repeats the targeted behavior specifically to obtain the reinforcer.
  - Example Exchange: A teacher asks, "Olivia, what goes with shoes?" The student responds, "Shoes." The teacher reinforces with praise: "Shoes and shoes, my boos, smart girl." The student continues to repeat the correct behavior on subsequent trials.
- Searching: The student actively looks for the reinforcer (e.g., looking at a phone placed nearby and indicating readiness to receive it).
- Positive Affect: The student smiles upon receiving the reinforcer (e.g., smiling when receiving praise and approval for good performance).
- Active Engagement: The student directly engages with the item or activity provided as the reinforcer.

Step 3: How to Vary Reinforcers:
- Regular Updates: Once an initial list of reinforcers is established, vary and expand the items on the list as frequently as possible.
- Pre-Lesson Choice: Allow the student to choose what specific item or activity they want to work for prior to starting the instructional lesson.
  - Example Exchange: A teacher asks Danny, "What do you want to work for?" Danny replies, "Chips." The teacher places the chips in view as the target reward.
- Maintaining Motivation: Varying reinforcers throughout teaching prevents satiation and helps keep the student motivated (e.g., utilizing headphones as a sensory reinforcer).
- Variations on a Theme: Identify several variations within a single topic or item class that the student enjoys.
  - Example: If a student likes cars, identify multiple distinct vehicles they enjoy, such as three different cars and a milk truck.
- Novelty Encouragement: Actively encourage the student to try new items and activities.

Direct Inquiries: Ask the student explicitly if they want to try new or alternative items (e.g., offering choices between bubbles, oil balloons, or stamps).
Novel Demonstrations: Introduce new objects or engaging physical demonstrations to spark curiosity (e.g., showing a keychain or demonstrating a magic trick with a solid metal ring).
Expansion of Reinforcers: Exposing students to entirely new activities allows those novel activities to become effective reinforcers over time.

Helpful Hints for Step 3:
- Pairing Praise with Food: If a student only responds to food reinforcers, systematically pair verbal praise with the delivery of the food reward.
- Fading Primary Reinforcers: Gradually fade the food reinforcer over time until verbal praise alone functions as an effective reinforcer.
- Token Reinforcement Systems: Implement a system where the student must earn a specific target number of tokens (e.g., earning up to 11 tokens) prior to gaining access to the food reinforcement.
  - Example Task: During instruction, ask functional knowledge questions (e.g., "What does a chef do?" -> "Cooks food") to earn tokens toward the final reinforcer.

Step 4: When to Reinforce:
- Instructional Sequence: Present a clear request or prompt to the student (e.g., asking a student, Steven, to turn around, look at the instructor, and say "yes" when his name is called).
- Immediate Delivery: Deliver the reinforcer immediately after the student performs the requested behavior.
- Contingent Delivery: Ensure the reinforcer is delivered only after the student completes the exact request provided.
- Descriptive Praise: Always pair the physical or activity reinforcer with verbal praise, explicitly describing the specific behavior being rewarded (e.g., "Can you turn around and you say yes? Fabulous. Good.").

Step 5: How to Reinforce Less Over Time:
- Initial Prompted Reinforcement: At the beginning of instruction, reinforce correct responses even if full prompts or assistance were required to guide the student to the correct response.
  - Example: Prompting "What do you do with a cup? Say, I drink." -> Student says "I drink" -> Deliver reinforcement.
- Differential Reinforcement Based on Independence:
  - As prompts are systematically faded, deliver higher-value rewards for responses given with less assistance.
  - Reserve the best, highest-value reinforcers for completely independent responses given with zero assistance.
  - Example Continuum:
    1. Full Prompt: "What do you do with a cup? Say, I drink." -> "I drink." (Standard Reinforcement)
    2. Partial Prompt/Faded: "What do you do in a cup?" -> "I drink." (Better Reinforcement, e.g., balloons)
    3. Independent Response: "What do you do with a cup?" -> "I drink." (Best Reinforcement)
- Intermittent Reinforcement: Once a student responds consistently, stop reinforcing every single response. Delay reinforcement until the student completes a set of multiple correct responses (e.g., requiring correct answers to "What do you do with a cup?" and "What do you do with a marker?" before providing reinforcement).
- Core Rule: Always save the highest-quality reinforcers for responses that occur with the minimum amount of assistance or help.

Five Steps of Reinforcement System Implementation:
1. Identify types of reinforcers (praise, snacks, toys, tokens, breaks, physical interactions).
2. Identify potential reinforcers using preference sampling and construct a list of at least 10 items.
3. Vary reinforcers regularly, offer pre-lesson choices, utilize variations on themes, expose students to novel items, and pair praise with primary reinforcers to fade food reliance.
4. Deliver reinforcers immediately and contingently upon correct behavior, accompanied by descriptive praise.
5. Reinforce less over time by systematically fading prompts, shifting to intermittent reinforcement schedules, and reserving top-tier reinforcers for unprompted, independent responses.