ch 15 differential reinforcement

■ How do you use differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) to increase the rate of a desirable behavior? reinforcement and extinction

DRA involves reinforcing a desirable behavior and extinguishing undesirable behaviors that may interfere with the desirable behavior. The desirable behavior must be occurring at least occasionally so that it can be reinforced.

When should you use DRA, DRO, and DRL procedures?

DRA should be used when you want to increase the frequency of an existing desirable behavior. DRO should be used when you want to eliminate a problem behavior. DRL may be used when you want to decrease but not necessarily eliminate a target behavior.

interresponse time (IRT), 309

The 12 seconds between responses is called an interresponse time (IRT).

functional communication training, 295

teaching the child with the problem behaviour that gains him attn to ask for assistance rather than being an arsehole. AS teacher reinforces the good behaviour, the other will decrease.

ways to find good reinforcers

- use the one that has been used to reinforce the negative behaviour or -observe what the person enjoys doing. eg video games. use Penmack principle -ask the person, or teacher what they like . what they enjoy doing. how they spend their free time. =try different types of stimuli and see what works ie Preference assessment procedure . use single stimulus assessment, paired stimulus assessment or multiple stimulus assessment.

when should u use DRA?

- when you want to increase the rate of a desirable behavior ( so it must be occuring occassionally -when the behavior is already occurring at least occasionally - when you have access to a reinforcer that you can deliver after the occurrence of the behavior

The steps involved in differential reinforcement of alternative behaviour

1. Define the desirable behavior. 2. Define the undesirable behaviors. 3. Identify the reinforcer. 4. Reinforce the desirable behavior immediately and consistently. 5. Eliminate reinforcement for undesirable behaviors. 6. Use intermittent reinforcement to maintain the target behavior. 7. Program for generalization

how to implement DRO Think of girl who sucked thumb but liked to be read to.

1. Identify the reinforcer for the problem behavior 2. Identify the reinforcer to use in the DRO procedure 3. Choose the initial DRO time interval 4. Eliminate the reinforcer for the problem behavior and deliver the reinforcer for the absence of the problem behavior 5. Reset the interval if the problem behavior occurs 6. Gradually increase the interval length

paired stimulus assessment, 291

2 stimuli are presented to the subject and the researcher records which stimulus the subject approaches.

■ How do you use differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) and differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (DRL) to decrease an undesirable behavior?

DRO involves reinforcing the absence of the problem behavior during intervals of time. When the problem behavior does not occur in the interval, the reinforcer is delivered, and when the problem behavior occurs, the interval for reinforcement is reset. DRL involves reinforcing a lower rate of the problem behavior. The reinforcer may be contingent on fewer than a set number of responses occurring in a time period, or the reinforcer may be contingent on the behavior when a specified interresponse time (IRT) occurs.

How is negative reinforcement used in DRA and DRO procedures?

Negative reinforcement is used in DRO or DRA when termination of an aversive stimulus is the reinforcer for an alternative behavior (DRA) or the reinforcer for the absence of the problem behavior (DRO).

How are the principles of reinforcement and extinction involved in differential reinforcement procedures?

Reinforcement is involved when the alternative behavior (DRA), the absence of the behavior (DRO), or a lower rate of the behavior (DRL) is reinforced. Extinction is used when the problem behavior occurs (DRA and DRO) or when the rate of the behavior exceeds the criterion for reinforcement (DRL).

differential reinforcement of communication 294

This is where the subject learns to use communication to exact the same response as the problem behaviour. eg kid learns to ask for attn rather than being disruptive.

interval DRL, 307

similar to spaced-responding DRL. Interval DRL involves dividing a session into intervals and providing the reinforcer if no more than one response occurred in each interval

Differential reinforcement of alternative behaviour DRA

a behavioural procedure used to increase the frequency of a desirable behaviour and decrease the frequency of hte undesirable behaviour. So it is reinforcement for desirable behavviour and extinction for undesirable behaviour. Eg the complaining woman in nursing home. Nurses were reinforcing behaviour when htey listened to her whinges.

why is it important to identify the undesirable behaviour

so you don't inadvertently reinforce the wrong behaviour

single stimulus assessment, 291

each potential reinforcer is presented (i. e., put on a table in front of the child), one at a time, to see whether the individual approaches the stimulus or not.

differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO), 297

eg sara sucking her thumb. she liked being read to so she was only read to when she wasn't sucking her thumb. Reinforcer was delivered when the prob behaviour was absent. This caused an increase in the time that sara would go when she didnt' suck her thumb.\ DRO only works in the absence of the prob behaviour.

stereotypic behavior, 309

is repetitive behavior that does not serve any social function for the person. Such behaviors often are called self-stimulatory behaviors because they produce some form of sensory stimulation for the person

preference assessment, 291

is when u try out different stimuli to see which ones function as reinforcers. It can be conducted as a single stimulus assessment; a paired stimulus assessment or a multiple stimulus assessment. eg does the kid reach for the toy or the food stimulus?

full-session DRL, reinforcement. 306

reinforcement is delivered if fewer than a specified number of responses occurs in a period of time.

reinforcer assessment

reinforcer assessment is conducted by presenting different stimuli to see which one attracts the subject eg the kid picks the toy or the cake.

differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (DRL), 305

the reinforcer is delivered contingent on a lower rate of responding during a period of time. used for special kids who yelled out in class. TEacher told class if they called out less than the average, they would receive teh reinforcer ie candy. Time limit was gradually increased. So here we are reinforcing just lower rates of the problem behaviour. We do not want complete extinction. we just want a lower rate of the prob behaviour.

differential reinforcement of an incompatible behavior (DRI), 295

this is where the alternative behaviour is physically incompatible with the problem behaviour and therefore the two behaviours can't occur at same time. eg if a kid does head slapping it is not possible to continue doing that and playing with toys instead. So these could be reinforced to replace the head slapping .

multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO), 291

when the subject selects reinforcer preferences using multiple stimulus assessment.

multiple stimulus assessment, 291

where multiple stimuli are presented to the subject to see which can be used as a reinforcer. Which is the subject most interested in. That one is removed and then which is the next interesting to the subject and so on.

momentary DRO, 304

where the prob behaviour is absent just at the end of the interval for the reinforcer to be delivered.

whole-interval DRO, 304

where the problem behaviour is absent for the whole interval for the reinforcer to be delivered.

spaced-responding DRL, 307

■ Response occurs after an interval of time. ■ Reinforcer is delivered.