1. Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers
Chapter 7:
Arranging Consequences that Increase Behavior

2. Chapter Overview Positive Reinforcement Contracting
Choosing Effective Reinforcers
Making Reinforcers Contingent
Making Reinforcement Immediate
Types of Reinforcers
Contracting
Variations in Administration of Reinforcers
Group Contingencies and Peer Mediation
Schedules of Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
Inadvertent Use
Appropriate Means of Escape
Using Negative Reinforcement for Instruction
Natural Reinforcement

3. Positive Reinforcement (SR+)
The contingent presentation of a stimulus, immediately following a response, that increases the future rate or probability of the response
Positive reinforcer is a consequential stimulus (SR) that:
Increases or maintains the future rate or probability of the occurrence of a behavior
Is administered contingent upon the production of a desired or requested behavior
Is administered immediately following the production of the desired or requested behavior

4. Choosing Effective Reinforcer
Individual Factors that Impact Reinforcer Effectiveness
Reinforcement history
Deprivation state
Perceived value of the reinforcer
Consistency
Age appropriateness
Reinforcer Sampling

5. Types of Reinforcers
Primary Reinforcers
Secondary Reinforcers

6. Primary Reinforcers Biological importance
Natural, unlearned, or unconditioned reinforcers
Types: food, liquids, sleep, shelter, and sex

7. Deprivation/Satiation
For a primary reinforcer to be effective the student must be in a state of deprivation in relation to the reinforcer
Satiation occurs when the student has been repeatedly exposed to the reinforcer and the reinforcer no longer reinforces the behavior

8. Seven Ways to Prevent/Delay Satiation
Allow students to select reinforcers and have a variety (3 or 4) edible reinforcers for the student to choose from
Assign a particular reinforcer to each task or behavior
At onset of satiation, switch to an alternative reinforcer
Shorter sessions with fewer trials (controlled presentations)
decreases the change of satiation.
Decrease the size of the edible reinforcers (e.g., mini M&Ms)
Do not provide a reinforcer for every correct response

9. Sensory Reinforcers Also considered primary reinforcers
Auditory: tones, voices, music, environmental
Visual: black/white or colored lights, pictures, books, magazines, slides, videos, movement, mirror, kaleidoscope
Olfactory: sweet, pungent
Taste: solids or liquids (sweet, sour, salty, sharp, bitter)
Tactile: smooth/rough, soft/hard, warm/cold, wet/dry, movement
Proprioceptive: bounce, swing, rock

10. Secondary Reinforcers
Stimuli that are initially neutral but acquire reinforcing qualities through pairing with a primary reinforcers (also called conditioned reinforcer)
Includes: verbal praise, preferred activities, token exchange

11. Tangible Reinforcers
Items that are concrete and have immediacy that when presented contingent of the behavior increase the likelihood the behavior will occur again

12. Activity Reinforcers
Premack Principle: When low-frequency behaviors are followed by high-frequency behaviors, the effect is to increase the probability of the low-frequency behavior (e.g., if you eat your vegetables you can go outside and play)
Limitations of Activity Reinforcers: (Kazdin, 2001)
1) Access to some hihg-preference activities cannot always immediately follow the low-preference behavior
2) An activity may be an all-or-nothing enterprise
3) Many activities must be freely available to students without reference to their performance
4) May cause an interruption in continuous performance of the target behavior

13. Generalized Reinforcers
When a reinforcer is associated with a variety of behaviors or with access to a variety of other primary or secondary reinforcers
Examples: social reinforcers, praise, money
Advantages of generalized reinforcers:
Permit reinforcement of a response at any time and allow sequences of responses to be reinforced
Maybe used to maintain performance over extended periods of time and less susceptible to satiation
Provide the same reinforcement for individuals who have different preferences
(Kazdin & Bootzin, 1972)

14. Token Reinforcers
Symbolic representations exchangeable for some reinforcer of value to students
Token Reinforcement Systems require:
Tokens
Backup reinforcers
Guard against counterfeiting or theft

15. Contracting
Placing the contingency for reinforcement into a written document
Contracts should contain:
If…then… statement
the behavior
the conditions
the criterion
the reinforcer
dates for interim and final review

16. Variations in Administration of Consequences
Individual Student All Students Specific Group of Students
Example:
Randy for each problem you solve correctly you will receive one token.
Example:
Class, each of you who completes 17 of your 20 problems correctly may have an extra 10 minutes of computer time
Example:
Each boy in class may earn a token for placing his tray on the cart after lunch.
Individual
Reinforcer Delivery
Example:
The following students may go to the gym to play basketball if they write an essay on basketball: Gary, your essay must have at least four sentences. Jamie, your essay must have at least six sentences. And Cory, your essay must have at least 10 sentences.
Example:
All students who receive a grade of 100 on the geography test today will be exempt from geography homework tonight.
Example:
Redbirds, if you all remember to raise your hand before speaking during our reading lesson, you may select your own books to take home this weekend.
Group
Adapted from: The Token Economy: A Review and Evaluation, by A.E. Kazdin, 1977, New York: Plenum Press.

17. Schedules of Reinforcement: Continuous Schedule of Reinforcement
Continuous Schedule of Reinforcement (CRF):
Each target response is immediately reinforced
Dense ratio of reinforcement
Use when:
Teaching a new skill (acquisition)
A behavior that occurs at a very low frequency
Limitations:
CRF schedule increases the likelihood of satiation
Teaching students to expect reinforcement for following directions
Not most efficient method of maintaining behavior once it has been acquired

18. Schedules of Reinforcement: Intermittent Schedules
Requires greater numbers of correct response for reinforcement
Decreases likelihood of satiation and more resistant to extinction than CRF schedules
Ratio Schedules
Interval Schedules
Response-duration schedules

19. Intermittent Schedules
Ratio
Interval
Response-Duration
Fixed Ratio
Target response is reinforced upon completion of a specified number of correct responses
FR2 = Reinforced after every second correct response
Fixed Interval
Student reinforced the first time he/she performs the target response following the elapse of a specified number of minutes or seconds
low rate of responding
Length of interval will affect rate of responding
Fixed-interval scallop – the slowing or ceasing of responding after receiving reinforcement
Fixed Response-Duration
Student is reinforced following completion of a specified number of minutes (or seconds) of appropriate behavior.
FRD 10-minutes = continuous engagement in target response will be reinforced every 10-minutes.
Fixed
Variable Ratio
Target response is reinforced on the average of a specified number of correct responses VR3= reinforced after the average of every third correct response
ratio strain – if the schedule of reinforcement is thinned too quickly and the ratio is increases by to many responses to maintain the rate of responding
Limited Hold- restricts the amount of time the reinforcer is available following the interval
Variable Response-Duration
Continuous appropriate behavior is reinforced on the average of a specified time period
VRD 10-minute = continuous engagement in target response will be reinforced on an average of every 10-minutes
Variable Interval
Student reinforced the first time he/she performs the target response following the elapse of an average number of minutes or seconds.
moderate, steadier rate across intervals without appeared of fixed-interval scallops
Variable

20. Thinning Schedules of Reinforcement
Reinforcement gradually becomes available less often or in other words, becomes contingent on greater amounts of appropriate behavior
Dense Sparse
Thinning Schedules should result in:
Higher, steadier levels of responding
Decreasing expectation of reinforcement
Maintenance of the behavior
Removal of teacher as a necessary behavior monitor
Transfer of control to more natural reinforcers
Increase in persistence in responding toward working for goals
Ability to deliver reinforcers on a lean schedule

21. Negative Reinforcement (SR-)
The contingent removal of an aversive stimulus immediately following a response that increases the future rate or probability of the response.
Teachers often inadvertently use negative reinforcement without realizing it.

22. Natural Reinforcement
Almost every reinforcer can be a natural reinforcer
A reinforcer is natural depending on the situation, setting, and ages of the individual receiving the reinforcer.

23. Key Terms positive reinforcement generalized conditioned reinforcer
positive reinforcer reinforcer
reinforcer sampling backup reinforcers
primary reinforcers social reinforcers
satiation contracting
deprivation state schedules of reinforcement
secondary reinforcers extinction
conditioned reinforcers intermittent schedules
pairing ratio schedules
Premack principle interval schedules
response-duration schedules limited hold
fixed-ratio schedule (FR) variable-ration schedule (VR)
fixed-interval Schedule (FI) variable-interval schedule (VI)
variable-response duration schedule (VRD) thinning
ratio strain