Chapter 12 - Reinforcer Effectiveness

Question 1

Senor Jimenez taught 4-year-old Janice to say his name right by saying a syllable, “hee” and hugging her only when she said it right. Next, he said,”hee-mayn” and hugged her only when she said both syllables right. Finally, he said “hee-mayn-ays” and hugged her only when she said his whole name right. What procedure did he use to teach her how to say his name? __________

Answer 1

shaping

Question 2

Jane’s brother wasn’t a very warm person. So every time that he acted cold and distant, she would tell him to stand close and touch people. His rate of standing close and touching people increased after she started the procedure. What is the name of her procedure? __________

Answer 2

unknown

Question 3

Hal did not invite Dana to parties very often. Dana decided to change this by quickly offering free tutoring only when Hal invited him to a party. Dana made these offers immediately after an invitation. These offers were terribly important to Hal because Dana was the only person who could explain the material well enough to enable Hal to pass the exams. Hal rarely received these offers from Dana. What principle of effective reinforcement, if any, did Dana neglect? __________

Answer 3

none

Question 4

Enough of the reinforcer must be delivered to be worthwhile. This is known as the principle of __________.

Answer 4

size

Question 5

He was every employee’s dream. He praised your work no matter how poorly you did it. He gave it right after you finished a job. He didn’t give you too much praise. You felt important afterwards. Still, it wasn’t effective– no one improved the quality of his or her work. What principle of effective reinforcement, if, any, is he neglecting? __________

Answer 5

contingency

Question 6

Kevin lent his truck and his muscles to help Bob move. At first, he carried boxes to the front door, where Bob took them and carried them inside and put them in the right room. Bob always thanked Kevin as soon as he brought a box to the door and at no other time. Bob did not give praise so much or so often that Kevin tired of it. But when Kevin saw Bob drinking a beer without offering him any, he decided that getting thanks didn’t justify all the hard work. What principle of effective reinforcement, if any, did Bob neglect? __________

Answer 6

size

Question 7

Sarah tried to help John overcome his shyness by praising him for being assertive. She conveyed her praise about his assertive behaviors after they returned home from social gatherings. During these conversations, she only praised him for the assertive acts that he had made during the event. John never got too much praise from Sarah during these conversations. Every instance of her praise was very important to him. What principle, if any, did Sarah neglect in providing help to John in this way? __________

Answer 7

immediacy

Question 8

Dr. Allyson gave Doris towels only when she was in her room; she had hoarded them nine years, so each one was important to her. By the time that she had been given 600 towels, she started removing them from her room. Allyson deliberately violated what principle of reinforcer effectiveness to reduce the reinforcing properties of towels for Doris? __________

Answer 8

deprivation

Question 9

Tactic #5 is using the reinforcement strategy is to use the principles of __________.

Answer 9

reinforcer effectiveness

Question 10

State the principle of immediacy.

Answer 10

The more immediate the delivery of the reinforcer after the behavior, the more effective the reinforcer.

Question 11

Reinforcers should be selected according to whether the person has not had a lot of that reinforcer recently. This is known as the principle of __________.

Answer 11

deprivation

Question 12

Jerry’s mother agreed to teach him how to sew. She paid attention to him by pointing out only good aspects of his sewing. This attention was very important to Jerry. She kept her lessons brief so that Jerry rarely received attention. What principle of effective reinforcement, if any, did Jerry’s mother neglect? __________

Answer 12

none

Question 13

Jane’s brother wasn’t a very warm person. She felt that he would be friendlier if he would just hug people a little bit. She decided to praise him, first only if he stood close. Next, she praised him only if he touched her hand or shoulder briefly. Finally, she praised him only if he hugged her. Getting him to hug her would be termed a(n) __________.

Answer 13

target behavior

Question 14

Reinforcers should be delivered only when the desired behavior occurs. This is called the principle of ___________

Answer 14

contingency

Question 15

Reinforcers should be delivered as soon after the behavior has occurred as possible. This is called the principle of __________

Answer 15

immediacy

Question 16

Name the four principles that govern the effectiveness of a reinforcer.

Answer 16

contingency, immediacy, size, deprivation

Question 17

Mr. Mack wanted to teach Ken, his infant son, to sit up before any other children his age. So, when Ken was 4 months old, Mr. Mack designated the half hour after dinner as time to reward Ken for sitting up by giving him a spoon of applesauce. A behavior analyst would guess that the applesauce did not work very well because Ken was already __________ on food (use technical term).

Answer 17

satiated

Question 18

The principle of contingency states that the reinforcer should be delivered __________ when the behavior occurs.

Answer 18

only

Question 19

Judy encouraged Tom to read by patting his head. She patted while he was reading. She patted only when he was reading. Attention was important to Tom because Judy gave him few pats or other attention. However, because each pat lasted about a second, he didn’t even seem to notice. Tom soon stopped reading. What principle of effective reinforcement if any, does Judy’s procedure omit? __________

Answer 19

size

Question 20

Hall and his colleagues (1972) gave Jerry 25 cents at the end of the month for each time that he was observed wearing his braces (and only for wearing his braces). The money permitted him to buy things that he wanted, and he never seemed to have too much money. What principle of effective reinforcement, if any, did they violate? __________

Answer 20

immediacy

Question 21

Members of the Utopian Village agreed to rely on expressions of love to maintain work behaviors in their community. The members provided each other with these expressions immediately after work behaviors. They also provided these expressions after goofing off behaviors. These expressions of love were extremely important to every member of the group, and no one ever got too many of them. What principle of effective reinforcement, if any, did they neglect? __________

Answer 21

contingency

Question 22

The principle of size states that you must be sure to give the person enough of the reinforcer to be __________.

Answer 22

worthwhile

Question 23

Jane’s brother wasn’t a very warm person. She decided to praise him only when he stood close to people. Then, she praised him only when he stood close and touched them briefly on the arm. Finally, she praised him only when he also hugged them. Because her goal was to have him stand close and hug people, standing close to someone would be called a(n) __________ to that goal.

Answer 23

approximation

Question 24

. State the principle of size

Answer 24

You must give a worthwhile amount of the event.

Question 25

what is principle of response effort?

Answer 25

reinforcer size needs to match the response effort