Reinforcement

Reinforcement can mean adding steel to a wall or building. In learning, we usually think of it as increasing the likelihood of an operant (group of behaviors) occurring.

Some things don’t require reinforcement. We come into this life with many pre-wired routines. We have a place to start.

But most of the things we do have to be taught. And one of the best tools we have is positive reinforcement. It works on pets and animals. It works on our kids. It works on our parents. It works on us.

Here are 5 things we’ll cover;

• Definition
• Reinforcer Types
• Give & Take
• Reinforcement. Types
• Schedules of Reinforcement

 

Terms

• association
• avoidance learning
• behavior
• consequence
• continuous reinforcement
• deferential release
• environmental stimulus
• escape learning
• extinguish
• fixed interval (FI)
• fixed ratio (FR)
• generalized conditioned reinforcers
• impending doom
• intermittent schedules
• likelihood
• N minutes
• N times
• nagging
• negative
• negative reinforcement
• operant
• performance
• positive
• positive reinforcement
• practice
• praise & affection
• primary reinforcer
• prior experience
• reinforcement types
• reinforcer types
• resistance to extinction
• response
• rewards
• scalloped
• schedules of reinforcement
• secondary reinforcer
• shaping
• signal termination
• situation
• stimulus
• stimulus presentation
• successive approximations
• variable interval (VI)
• variable ratio (VR)

Quiz

None

Notes

1. Definition

• An environmental stimulus that occurs after the response and increases the likelihood that the response will occur in the future
• Increases likelihood of operant reappearing

2. Reinforcer Types

• • Primary Reinforcer
    • satisfies some biological need and works naturally, regardless of a person’s prior experience
  • Secondary Reinforcer
    • a stimulus that becomes reinforcing because of its association with a primary reinforcer
  • Generalized conditioned reinforcers
    • A type of secondary
    • Praise and affection

3. Give & Take

• 2 ways to apply
  • give +
  • take –

4. Reinforcement Types

• Positive Reinforcement
  • Process by which presentation of a stimulus after a response makes the response more likely to occur in the future
• Negative Reinforcement
  • Negative reinforcement involves a situation in which a response that terminates an aversive  stimulus will strengthen that response
  • Eating an aspirin will reduce the headache and strengthen the behavior of aspirin-eating (sometimes referred to as escape-learning)
  • Avoidance learning:  A response prevents a potentially aversive event from occurring
  • Child cleans his room to avoid parental nagging
  • Removing impending doom

5. Schedules of Reinforcement

• Continuous reinforcement
  • Shaping
  • Reinforcer is obtained for every response
• Intermittent schedules: Reinforcer is not obtained for every response
• Fixed interval (FI) (scalloped)
  • After the elapse of N minutes
• Fixed ratio (FR)
  • Every Nth response
• Variable interval (VI) (resistant to extinction)
  • On average, after N minutes
• Variable ratio (VR) (very resistant to extinction)
  • The average is every Nth response
• Rewards should be given deferentially
  • Parents should reward behaviors they want and ignore (extinguish) behaviors they don’t want.
  • Behavior can be shaped by rewarding successive approximations
  • Practice without reinforcement doesn’t improve performance