Developing and Maintaining Behavior with Conditioned Reinforcement Chapter 4 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Types of Reinforcers Unconditioned Reinforcers Unlearned Conditioned Reinforcers Learned through being paired with other reinforcers Tokens Conditioned reinforcers that can be collected and exchanged for backup reinforcers Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Conditioned Reinforcers Main advantages: Can often be delivered more immediately than the backup reinforcer Help bridge delays between behavior and more powerful reinforcers Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Table 4-1 – Examples of Conditioned Reinforcers. “Examples of simple and generalized conditioned reinforcers are given in Table 4-1.” (page 57) Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Influencing Effectiveness of Conditioned Reinforcers Strength of Backup Reinforcers Variety of Backup Reinforcers Simple Conditioned Reinforcer – paired with a single backup reinforcer Generalized Conditioned Reinforcer – paired with many different kinds of backup reinforcers Strength depends in part on number of different backup reinforcers available for it Schedule of Pairing with Backup Reinforcer More effective if does not follow each occurrence Extinction of the Conditioned Reinforcer Must continue to pair conditioned reinforcer with backup reinforcer, at least occasionally Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Pitfalls Scolding No backup punishment or desirable behavior is not reinforced Attention may be reinforcing, thus scolding may not be punishing Extinction of conditioned reinforcer Failure to use backup reinforcers might make conditioned reinforcers ineffective Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Guidelines for Effective Use of Conditioned Reinforcers Conditioned reinforcer should be a stimulus that can be managed and administered easily Use the same conditioned reinforcers found in individual’s natural environment Early on, present backup reinforcer as soon as possible after conditioned reinforcer Delay can be increased gradually later Use generalized conditioned reinforcers whenever possible When more than one participant is involved, avoid destructive competition for conditioned and backup reinforcers Apply the same rules used for primary positive reinforcers Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.