Reinforcement, extinction, punishment Flashcards
What is reinforcement?
The procedure of providing consequences for a behaviour that increase/maintain the frequency of that behaviour
What is a reinforcer?
An event that, when made contingent on a behaviour, increases/maintains the frequency of that behaviour
What is a positive reinforcer?
A reinforcing event in which something is added following a behaviour
What is a negative reinforcer?
A reinforcing even in which something is removed following a behaviour
What is a primary reinforcer?
Reinforcers that are not dependent on their association with other reinforcers - usually related to basic human needs, e.g., food, warmth
What is a secondary reinforcer?
Reinforcers that are dependent on their association with other reinforcers - dependent on learning
What are contrived reinforcers?
Reinforcers that have been arranged by someone for the purpose of modifying behaviour
What are natural reinforcers?
Reinforcers that haven’t been arranged by someone for the purpose of modifying behaviour
What are the rules for using reinforcement?
- Define target behaviour
- Select appropriate reinforcers
- Make reinforcers immediate and certain
- Monitor results
Which type of reinforcers are better to use?
Positive, secondary, and natural
What is the problem with time delay?
Allows other behaviour to occur - reinforcer should be contingent on target behaviour
What are the 4 problems with reinforcement?
- Bootleg reinforcement
- Reliance on reinforcement
- Behaviour contrast
- Inappropriate use
What is bootleg reinforcement?
When reinforcement comes from other sources other than the interventionist
What does reliance on the reinforcement mean?
Target behaviour stops when the reinforcement stops
What is behaviour contrast?
When reinforced behaviour doesn’t generalise to situations which it hasn’t been reinforced in in the past
What is extinction?
Withholding the reinforcers that maintain a target behaviour - about decreasing the frequency of a behaviour
What are the rules for using extinction?
- Define target behaviour
- Identify the reinforcers that maintain the target behaviour
- Withhold all reinforcement of the target behaviour
- Monitor results
Why is occasional reinforcement bad in extinction?
Can maintain the behaviour at pretty high rates - partial reinforcement effect
What is the partial reinforcement effect?
Increased resistance to extinction following intermittent reinforcement
What are the four problems with extinction?
- Uncontrolled reinforcement
- It can be slow
- Extinction bursts
- Spontaneous recovery
What is uncontrolled reinforcement in extinction?
Some reinfrocers can be intrinsically reinforcing
What are extinction bursts?
A sharp increase in teh frequency of the behaviour on extinction
What is spontaneous recovery in extinction?
Behaviour can come back by itself - only a problem if the behaviour is reinforced again
What is differential reinforcement?
Any procedure that combines reinforcement and extinction to change the frequency of a target behaviour
What are the three types of differential reinforcement?
- Differential reinforcement of low rate
- Differential reinforcement of alternate behaviour
- Differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviour
What is differential reinforcement of low rate?
Reinforcing the behaviour when it occurs at a low rate
What is differential reinforcement of alternate behaviour?
Take the reinforcers that were available for the problematic behaviour and give it to the person for more desirable behaviour
What is differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviour?
It is a version of differential reinforcement of alternate behaviour but the difference is that generally the behaviours are incompatible with each other
What are the rules for using differential reinforcement?
- Define the target behaviour
- Extinguish the undesirable behaviour
- Reinforce the desirable target behaviour
- Monitor results
What is punishment?
The procedure of providing consequences for a behaviour that decrease the frequency of that behaviour
What is a punisher?
An event that, when made contingent on a behaviour, decreases the frequency of that behaviour
What are the 5 types of punishment?
Reprimanding, response cost, time out, over correction, physical punishment
What is reprimanding?
Providing some sort of expression of disapproval
What is response cost?
A price to pay if you’ve done something wrong
What is time out?
To reduce the frequency of a target behaviour by making removal of a person from the reinforcing environment contingent on the target behaviour
What is over correction?
To reduce the frrequency of a target behaviour by making restitution for damage done and repeated performance of appropriate behaviour contingent on the target behaviour
What is physical punishment?
Making brief and non-injurious contact with the skin contingent on the target behaviour
What are the rules for using punishment?
- Define target behaviour
- Select the appropriate punishers
- Make punishment immediate and certain
- Use extinction and differential reinforcement
- Monitor results
What are the problems with punishment?
- Negative side effects - anger/fear, angry with interventionist, interventionist associated with the aversive consequence
- Inappropriate use
