Differential Reinforcement Flashcards
Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviors (DRA)
Reinforce alternate behavior.
Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviors (DRI)
Reinforce occurrences of incompatible behaviors
Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors (DRO)
Provide reinforcement for ABSENCE of the target behavior.
Differential Reinforcement of Lower Rates of Behaviors (DRL)
Provide reinforcement for maximum # of times. Ex: Answer only 20 questions from client
Differential Reinforcement of Higher Rates of Behaviors (DRH)
Reinforce when target behavior occurs for specified # of times
Daryl is a BT working with his client Paul. Paul engages in wandering
around the classroom. The BCBA has told Daryl to reinforce when Paul is sitting
in his chair for 10 seconds with a skittle and a token. What type of differential
reinforcement is this an example of?
DRI
Denise has been told that her client engages in tantrum behavior that is
maintained by access to tangibles. She decides to hold up the item and prompt
her client to point to the item. Once the client points to the item, the client is given
access to the item. She repeats this throughout session. What type of differential
reinforcement is this an example of?
DRA
Walter is close with his dad. His dad calls him 5 times a day. Walter
doesn’t have time to continue talking to him for multiple hours a day. Walter
decides to use differential reinforcement and only picks up 4 times on Monday.
On Tuesday he picks up 3 times. On Wednesday he picks up the phone 2 times.
Thursday he only picks up the phone 1 time per day. He keeps this up for the
next month. What type of differential reinforcement is this an example of?
DRL
Paulina is trying to work on not biting her nails. She sets a timer for 10
minutes and tells herself that if she doesn’t bite her nails for 10 minutes she can
go get a manicure. She puts her fingers close to her mouth, but stops herself.
She get’s distracted and starts arguing with her boyfriend about dirty dishes.
After 10 minutes the timer goes off. Paulia looks down and says, “Hey! I didn’t
bite my nails for the last 10 minutes. I’m going to get a manicure.” Her boyfriend
is confused, but happy to stop fighting. Paulina leaves to go get a manicure.
What type of differential reinforcement is this an example of?
DRO
Lucas is working on requesting items from adults. He is able to request
using one word. His parents want him to use longer phrases, so they make a
plan to only reinforce Lucas when he uses two words to request items. They
devise this plan and either if he is prompted to use two words or if he uses two
words spontaneously, he is reinforced. Lucas starts using two words to request
items solely. What type of differential reinforcement is this an example of?
DRH
Your BCBA has asked you to run a DRI procedure for head hitting against
a wall. They say to use any incompatible behavior. Which of the following is an
incompatible behavior for head hitting against a wall?
Sitting in a chair, walking away from wall
The BCBA you are working under is looking at an appropriate response to
work on attention maintained behavior. You suggest looking at a DRA. The
BCBA agrees with you and says, “Great idea! Can you give me a suggestion for
what you are thinking as the alternative behavior to reinforce for attention
maintained behavior?” You respond:
Saying adults name, saying “Hey look at me”
You walk into the rom and Tyler gets angry and yells at you stating,
“Today is the worst!!!” and throws a book across the room. You want to prompt
an appropriate communicative response for him but are unsure of what
happened. You state, “What’s wrong? How can I help.” Tyler looks at you and
throws another book across the room. You state, “I can’t help you unless you
give me an idea of what you’re looking for. Tyler yells angrily, “It’s lost.” You
state, “Ok. Something is lost. I understand. What are we looking for?” Tyler looks
at you and yells, “MY PHONE!!!!!” You say, “What about your phone?” Tyler
takes a deep breath and calmly says, “I can’t find my phone. Can you help me
find it?” You are then able to reinforce this response and say, “Yes of course.
Let’s look around”. Besides staying calm during this escalation, what type of
differential reinforcement did you employ?
DRA
