Psych 328 Exam 2: Spradlin WSU

difference between variable ratio schedule and fixed ratio schedule

- VR schedules can be increased more abruptly than FR schedules without producing ratio strain - Values of VR than can maintain a behavior are somewhat higher than those of FR - VR produces higher resistance to extinction than FR does

ratio schedules: intermittent reinforcement

- based on the number of responses emitted

conditioned reinforcers: main advantages

- can be delivered more immediately - linked tightly with behavior - more resistant to satiation when paired with multiple backup reinforcers

possible punishment contingencies

- can use tokens to administer punishment through fines (response cost) - may need to teach clients how to accept fines in a nonaggressive, relatively non-emotional way

Guidelines for the Effective Use of Intermittent Reinforcement:

- choose appropriate schedule for behavior you with to strengthen - choose schedule that is convenient to administer - inform individual of what schedule you are using - Frequency of reinforcement should initially be high enough to maintain desired behavior, then decrease gradually

most positive reinforcers can be classified under five somewhat overlapping headings:

- consumable (eat or drink) - activity (opportunity to watch TV) - manipulative (color, paint, ride bike) - possessional (other items one can possess) - social (pats, hugs, nods, praise, smiles)

supervision of staff

- duties should be clearly spelled out - staff must be monitored closely - reinforcement must be offered for appropriate behavior

continuous reinforcement

- every occurrence is reinforced - every time target behavior occurs it is reinforced - fast learning, fast extinction

pitfalls of intermittent reinforcement

- failure to conduct extinction correctly may turn into intermittent reinforcement - failure to introduce intermittent schedule gradually may result in extinction

selecting the behavior to be increased, target behavior to be reinforced, must first be identified to:

- helps to ensure reliability of detecting instances of the behavior and changes in frequency - increase the likelihood that the reinforcement programs will be applied consistently

managing the backup reinforcers

- how frequently will backup reinforcers be made available? (frequency high in the beginning) - how much will each reinforce cost? (could be related to monetary cost, high demand items should cost more)

variable-interval schedule

- interval length changes unpredictably from one reinforcement to the next - produces a moderate, steady rate of responding - no post-reinforcement pause - high resistance to extinction

conditioned reinforcers

- learned through pairing with other reinforcers (backup reinforcers) - secondary reinforcers - one specific kind commonly used: tokens

Reinforcer Immediacy

- maximum effectiveness= reinforcer given immediately after the desired response - if you cannot present a reinforcer immediately, then provide instructions explaining the delay

number or frequency of tokens to pay

- more tokens to start - gradually decrease number of tokens - less pleasant activities might earn more

variable ratio schedule

- number of responses required to produce reinforcement changes unpredictable from one reinforcement to the next - produces a high, steady rate of responding - produces no (or very small) post-reinforcement pause

intermittent reinforcement

- only some occurrences are reinforced - slow learning, extinction

factors influencing the effectiveness of positive reinforcement: motivating operations

- previous experience with a reinforcer can temporarily alter the effectiveness of that reinforcer - deprivation vs. satiation; most reinforcers will not be effective unless the individual has been deprived of them for some period of time prior to their use - motivational variable: a variable that affects the likelihood and direction of a behavior

pitfalls of positive reinforcement

- principle operates equally well for those who are not aware of it - mistakenly offering positive reinforcement as an overly simplistic explanation of a change in behavior - accidentally enforcing behaviors that you do not want

handling potential problems

- problems should be planned for in advance Likely problems: - confusion - staff shortages - attempts by clients to get tokens they have not earned or backup reinforcers for which they do not have enough tokens

fixed ratio schedule

- reinforcement occurs after a set number of responses is emitted - produces high steady rate of responding until reinforcement, followed by a post-reinforcement pause (higher value=longer the pause)

intermittent reinforcement: advantages

- reinforcer remains effective longer; slow satiation - behavior takes longer to extinguish; no expectation after every response - individuals work more consistently - behavior is more likely to persist after being transferred to natural reinforcers

factors influencing the effectiveness of positive reinforcement: instructions; make use of rules

- speed up the learning process for those who understand them - may influence an individual to work for delayed reinforcement - may also help teach individuals to follow instructions

keeping data

- what kinds of sheets? - who will record the data? - when will the recording take place?

Contingent vs. Non-contingent reinforcement

- when a behavior must occur before a reinforcer will be presented, the reinforcer is contingent of that behavior - if a reinforcer is presented at a particular time, regardless of the preceding behavior, the reinforcer is non-contingent

the reinforcing agent

- who will administer the reinforcement, and for what behaviors?

Guidelines for the Effective Application of Positive Reinforcement:

1. Select the behavior to be increased - should be a specific behavior - select a behavior that will come under control of natural reinforcers after it has been increased in frequency 2. Selecting the reinforcer: reinforcers that are) - readily available - can be presented immediately - can be used over and over again without cause rapid satiation - do not require a lot of time to consume 3. Applying positive reinforcement - tell individual about plan before starting - reinforce immediately - use lots of praise 4. Weaning the student from the program - if behavior is occurring at a desirable rate, gradually eliminate tangible reinforcers

Guidelines for Effective Use of Conditioned Reinforcers:

1. Should be a stimulus that can be managed and administered easily 2. Use the same conditioned reinforcers found in individual's natural environment 3. Early on, present backup reinforcers as soon as possible after conditioned reinforcer 4. Use generalized conditioned reinforcers whenever possible 5. When more than one participant is involved, avoid destruction competition for conditioned and backup reinforcers 6. Apply the same rules used for primary positive reinforcers

The Basic Token Economy "Cycle":

1. child has no token and no access to desirable items or activities 2. child engages in desired behaviors or "target behaviors" 3. child is given tokens for engaging in these target behaviors 4. child trades their token for access to desirable items or activities

setting up a token economy

1. decide on a target behavior 2. take baseline 3. select backup reinforcers 4. select the type of tokens to use 5. identify available help 6. choose the locations for applying token economy 7. managing consequences

pitfalls: extinction of the conditioned reinforcer

Failure to use backup reinforcers might make conditioned reinforcers ineffective

If somebody does something that is immediately followed by a positive reinforce, that person is less likely to do the same thing following a similar situation:

False

In a learning experiment with rats, the subjects are given salty food to eat before the experiment to increase their thirst and willingness to work for water. The salty food is an example of a:

Motivational variable

Extinction of the conditioned reinforcer

Must continue to pair the conditioned reinforcer with the backup reinforcer, at least occasionally

Unprogrammed reinforcers that occur in the normal course of everyday living are called what?

Natural reinforcers; occur in natural environment

simple conditioned reinforcer

Paired with a single backup reinforcer, one thing your tokens can be exchanged for

generalized conditioned reinforcer

Paired with many different kinds of backup reinforcers, many different kinds of backup reinforcers can be used

Which type of schedule of reinforcement is more commonly used?

Ratio schedule

When increasing the number of responses that one must show using a ration schedule of reinforcement, one must be careful of:

Ratio strain

A door-to-door salesperson is reinforced on a variable ratio schedule in that a sale is made after some unpredictable number of responses

True

If you want the behavior to exist in the long term, you should not always reinforce every single time; people are more willing to work through those losing periods and continue a behavior if they know a reward may be coming. True or False?

True

Non-contingent reinforcement does not typically work for specific behavioral change, true or false?

True

Gradually making the schedule of token delivery more intermittent or gradually decreasing the number of behaviors that earn tokens are two ways of:

Weaning clients from tokens

size of fixed-interval schedule= what?

amount of time that must elapse. no limit on how long after the end of the interval a response can occur in order to be reinforced

A reinforcer for which tokens can be exchanged is specifically called a(n):

back-up reinforcer

conditioned reinforcers

become reinforcers after being paired with other reinforcers

token economy

behavior modification program that uses tokens with one or more individual

operant behavior

behavior that operates on the environment to generate consequences

Advantages of Tokens

can be... - given immediately and easily - paired with many different backup reinforcers - can be administered to large, diverse groups of people

A piece of chocolate is an example of which type of reinforcer?

consumable

Tokens should be...

durable

fixed-interval schedule

first response after a fixed amount of time following the previous reinforcement is reinforced - new interval begins

Lucy has a job with Intel for which she packages computer chips. If Lucy gets paid a bonus for every 100 chips she packages during her shift, she is being reinforced using a:

fixed ratio schedule

weaning from tokens: decrease token value gradually

gradually decrease amount of backup reinforcement that a token can purchase - or, gradually increase the delay between getting tokens and purchase of backup reinforcements

weaning from tokens: eliminate the tokens gradually

gradually make the schedule of token delivery more and more intermittent

behavior being established in a training program should be reinforced and maintained in the natural environment:

if a behavior strengthened by reinforcement is no longer reinforced at least occasionally, that behavior will return to its original level

principle of positive reinforcement

if, in a given situation, somebody does something that is followed immediately by a positive reinforcer, that person is more likely to do the same thing again when encountering a similar situation

When reinforcement occurs after some but not all response, a(n) ________ schedule of reinforcement is being used.

intermittent schedule

a reinforcer

is a consequent event that causes a behavior to increase in frequency

what does a token economy manual include?

methods for arbitrating disputes about rules - should be detailed - should be given to all staff members

If a reinforcement is presented at a particular time, irrespective of the preceding behavior, we say that the reinforcer is:

non contingent

Which of the following is a conditioned reinforcer?

none of the above

A _____ schedule of reinforcement has to do with the number of instances of a behavior, whereas a _____ schedule has to do with the first instance of a behavior after a length of time has passed.

ratio; interval

backup reinforcers

reinforcers that are earned by trading in conditioned reinforcers like tokens

schedule of reinforcement

rule specifying which occurrences of a given behavior will be reinforced

factors influencing the effectiveness of positive reinforcement: reinforcer size

size (amount/magnitude) is an important determinant of effectiveness

positive reinforcer

something being added, aka a reward

negative reinforcer

something being removed, reinforcement occurs by avoiding or escaping some kind of aversive stimulus

tokens

specific kind of conditioned reinforcers traded for backup reinforcers

what are simple interval schedules based on?

time

unconditioned reinforcers

unlearned, natural, primary reinforcers

token economy manual

written set of rules describing how the economy is to run

is an interval schedule used less commonly than a ratio schedule?

yes