Intermittent Reinforcement to Decrease Behavior Chapter 7 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Purpose Decrease or eliminate responses by applying reinforcement Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates (DRL) Reinforcing only low rates of responding Behavior will occur at low rate Limited Responding DRL Maximum number of allowable responses during an interval Useful when: Some of the behavior is tolerable Less is better Spaced-Responding DRL Behavior does not occur during an interval; after interval passed, behavior must occur for reinforcement Behavior spaced over time Want to reduce a desirable behavior (a little is desirable) Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential Reinforcement of Zero Responding (DRO) Reinforcer presented only if response does not occur within an interval If response occurs, timing of interval starts again Differential reinforcement of other responding – reinforcement for any other behavior Length of interval increased gradually until: Behavior occurring very rarely or not at all A minimum amount of reinforcement is given for nonoccurrence Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Responding (DRI) Similar to DRO, but specifies an incompatible response Undesired response is not possible when engaged in the incompatible response Reinforce incompatible response Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential Reinforcement of Alternate Behavior (DRA) Extinction of undesirable behavior Reinforcement of other, topographically dissimilar behavior (not necessarily incompatible one) Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Pitfalls May produce underachievers, as too much correct behavior becomes less and less reinforced Learn to respond at a lower rate to receive more reinforcement Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Guidelines for Effective Use Decide which type of schedule will be used Decide which reinforcer to use Record baseline data Follow procedures for the selected schedule If possible, inform the individual of the procedure to be used Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.