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    Types of Reinforcement

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    Harshitha
    Reinforcement increases the probability that a behavior will occur again. A reinforcer is anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring based on whether it has been administered after the behavior. The sole criterion for something to be considered a reinforcer is if it increases the future probability of the preceding behavior. There are four types of reinforcement/punishment: positive reinforcement uses an appetitive stimulus to increase a behavior; positive punishment uses an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior; negative reinforcement uses removal of an aversive stimulus to increase a behavior; and negative punishment uses removal of an appetitive stimulus to decrease a behavior.

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    Types of Reinforcement

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    Harshitha
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    Reinforcement increases the probability that a behavior will occur again. A reinforcer is anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring based on whether it has been administered after the behavior. The sole criterion for something to be considered a reinforcer is if it increases the future probability of the preceding behavior. There are four types of reinforcement/punishment: positive reinforcement uses an appetitive stimulus to increase a behavior; positive punishment uses an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior; negative reinforcement uses removal of an aversive stimulus to increase a behavior; and negative punishment uses removal of an appetitive stimulus to decrease a behavior.

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    Reinforcement increases the probability that a behavior will occur again. A reinforcer is anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring based on whether it has been administered after the behavior. The sole criterion for something to be considered a reinforcer is if it increases the future probability of the preceding behavior. There are four types of reinforcement/punishment: positive reinforcement uses an appetitive stimulus to increase a behavior; positive punishment uses an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior; negative reinforcement uses removal of an aversive stimulus to increase a behavior; and negative punishment uses removal of an appetitive stimulus to decrease a behavior.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    69 views2 pages

    Types of Reinforcement

    Uploaded by

    Harshitha
    Reinforcement increases the probability that a behavior will occur again. A reinforcer is anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring based on whether it has been administered after the behavior. The sole criterion for something to be considered a reinforcer is if it increases the future probability of the preceding behavior. There are four types of reinforcement/punishment: positive reinforcement uses an appetitive stimulus to increase a behavior; positive punishment uses an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior; negative reinforcement uses removal of an aversive stimulus to increase a behavior; and negative punishment uses removal of an appetitive stimulus to decrease a behavior.

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    Types of reinforcement

    B.F. Skinner, the researcher who articulated the major theoretical constructs of reinforcement
    and behaviorism, defined reinforcers according to the change in response strength rather than to
    more subjective criteria, such as what is pleasurable or valuable to someone. Accordingly,
    activities, foods or items considered pleasant or enjoyable may not necessarily be reinforcing
    (because they produce no increase in the response preceding them). Stimuli, settings, and
    activities only fit the definition of reinforcers if the behavior that immediately precedes the
    potential reinforcer increases in similar situations in the future. For example, a child who
    receives a cookie when he or she asks for one. If the frequency of "cookie-requesting behavior"
    increases, the cookie can be seen as reinforcing "cookie-requesting behavior." If however,
    "cookie-requesting behavior" does not increase the cookie cannot be considered reinforcing.

    Reinforcement theory is one of the motivation theories; it states that reinforced behavior will be
    repeated, and behavior that is not reinforced is less likely to be repeated.[1]

    The sole criterion that determines if an item, activity, or food is reinforcing is the change in
    probability of a behavior after administration of that potential reinforcer. Other theories may
    focus on additional factors such as whether the person expected the strategy to work at some
    point, but in the behavioral theory, reinforcement is descriptive of an increased probability of a
    response.

    The study of reinforcement has produced an enormous body of reproducible experimental


    results. Reinforcement is the central concept and procedure in special education, applied
    behavior analysis, the experimental analysis of behavior.

    Positive and negative reinforcement

    As Skinner discussed, positive reinforcement is superior to punishment in altering behavior. He


    maintained that punishment was not simply the opposite of positive reinforcement; positive
    reinforcement results in lasting behavioral modification, whereas punishment changes behavior
    only temporarily and presents many detrimental side effects.[2]

    The accepted model of reinforcement began shifting in 1966 when Azrin and Holz contributed a
    chapter[3] to Honig's volume on operant conditioning. Skinner defined reinforcement as creating
    situations that a person likes or removing a situation he doesn't like, and punishment as removing
    a situation a person likes or setting up one he doesn't like.[2] Thus the distinction was based on the
    appetitive or aversive nature of the stimulus. Azrin and Holz defined punishment "as 'a reduction
    of the future probability of a specific response as a result of the immediate delivery of a stimulus
    for that response'."[4] This new definition of punishment encroached on Skinner's definition of
    reinforcement, but most textbooks now only present examples of the 1966 model summarized
    below:

    Helpful Definitions:

     Appetitive stimulus: a pleasant outcome


     Aversive stimulus: an unpleasant outcome

    Forms of operant conditioning:

     Positive reinforcement: the adding of an appetitive stimulus to increase a certain behavior or


    response.
    Example: Father gives candy to his daughter when she picks up her toys.
     Punishment (positive punishment): the adding of an aversive stimulus to decrease a certain
    behavior or response.
    Example: Mother yells at a child when running into the street.

     Negative reinforcement: the taking of an aversive stimulus to increase certain behavior or


    response.
    Example: Rolling up the window to block the wind.

     Negative punishment (omission training): the taking away of an appetitive stimulus to decrease
    a certain behavior.
    Example: Taking away a night light when child does not go to bed.

    The following table shows the relationships between positive/negative reinforcements and
    increasing/decreasing required behavior.

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