Reinforcement is the engine of almost every skill you will teach. The behavior plan names the reinforcers; your job is to deliver them in a way that actually strengthens the right behavior. Four details decide whether that happens: timing, contingency, schedule, and magnitude.
Why it matters
The same reinforcer can build a skill or accidentally strengthen problem behavior, depending on how it is delivered. A sticker given right after a correct answer strengthens the answer. The same sticker given after the learner has started throwing materials may teach throwing. Because you deliver most of the reinforcement a learner receives, small slips in your delivery add up quickly.
On the exam, expect short scenarios in which an RBT delivers a reinforcer, and you identify what went wrong, which type of reinforcement it was, or which schedule is in use.
Key ideas
- Reinforcement is defined by its effect. A consequence is a reinforcer only if the behavior it follows becomes more likely in the future. A treat the learner does not care about is not a reinforcer, even if it seems like a nice reward.
- Positive and negative both increase behavior. "Positive" means something is added; "negative" means something is removed or reduced. Neither word means good or bad.
- Timing: deliver it immediately. Reinforce as soon as the target behavior happens, ideally within a second or two. The longer the delay, the more likely you are to reinforce whatever the learner did in between. Behavior-specific praise ("Nice job saying blue!") helps link the reinforcer to the right response.
- Contingency: only after the target behavior. The reinforcer should depend on the behavior. If the learner can get it freely, or gets it after problem behavior, it no longer strengthens the skill you are teaching, and it may strengthen something else.
- Schedules: follow the plan. New skills usually start on continuous reinforcement (every correct response). Once a skill is learned, your supervisor may thin it to an intermittent schedule, which keeps the behavior going and makes it more resistant to extinction.
- Magnitude: the right amount. Magnitude is how much, how long, or how intense the reinforcer is. Too little may not be worth the effort; too much per response can lead to satiation. Many plans give more reinforcement for independent responses than for prompted ones.
- Motivation changes value. A reinforcer is more powerful when the learner has not had access to it for a while (deprivation) and weaker right after lots of access (satiation).
Definitions
- Positive reinforcement: a stimulus is added right after a behavior, and the behavior becomes more likely in the future. Example: praise and a token after a correct answer.
- Negative reinforcement: a stimulus is removed or reduced right after a behavior, and the behavior becomes more likely in the future. Example: a short break from a worksheet after the learner asks for one.
- Continuous reinforcement (CRF): every occurrence of the target behavior is reinforced.
- Fixed ratio (FR): reinforcement after a set number of responses. FR 3 means every third response. If the plan counts correct responses, an error is simply not counted, and the count does not start over.
- Variable ratio (VR): reinforcement after a number of responses that changes around an average. VR 3 means on average every third response.
- Fixed interval (FI) and variable interval (VI): reinforcement for the first response after a set (FI) or average (VI) amount of time has passed.
- Satiation: a temporary drop in a reinforcer's value after the learner has had a lot of it.
Examples from a session
The four details in action
- Timing (clinic): Leo, age 4, labels a color correctly. Priya hands him a sticker right away and says, "You said blue!" before she reaches for her data sheet.
- Contingency (home): Dani's tablet is the reinforcer for completing puzzles. Marcus keeps it out of reach between trials, so tablet time only follows finished puzzles.
- Schedule (school): Aisha, 15, now reliably greets classmates. Her supervisor changes the plan from praise after every greeting to praise after about every third greeting (VR 3).
- Magnitude (home): Ben, 6, gets two pieces of cereal for independent answers and one piece for prompted answers, exactly as his plan says.
- Negative reinforcement (clinic): Noah, 7, hands over his break card during tabletop work. His RBT gives him the planned 2-minute break from work right away. The break removes the demands, so asking for a break is negatively reinforced.
Your supervisor writes the plan: which reinforcers, which schedule, and how much. If a reinforcer seems to stop working, or a learner seems to be getting too much or too little, record what you see and tell your supervisor instead of changing the plan on your own.
Common mistakes / exam traps
- Calling negative reinforcement punishment. If the behavior increases, it is reinforcement. Ending a hard task early after a learner politely asks for a break makes asking more likely; that is negative reinforcement, not punishment.
- Delivering late. Finishing your notes before giving the token creates a gap in which other behavior can be reinforced.
- Reinforcing problem behavior by accident. Giving a break because a learner screams teaches screaming as a way to escape work. Breaks should follow the target behavior the plan names.
- Leaving reinforcers freely available. Free access breaks the contingency and can cause satiation.
- Thinning too early or on your own. Intermittent schedules are usually brought in after a skill is learned, to maintain it. Schedule changes come from your supervisor, not from you.
Exam trap
"Negative" does not mean "bad," and it does not mean punishment. Ask two questions: was something added or removed, and did the behavior go up or down? Removed plus behavior going up equals negative reinforcement.
Exam trap
Ratio or interval? Ratio schedules count responses. Interval schedules wait for time to pass, then reinforce the next response; earlier responses earn nothing.
Quick check
At a job-training site, Kim, an RBT, gives Jada, 17, a point for her first correctly stocked shelf after each 5-minute timer goes off. Shelves Jada stocks before the timer ends earn nothing. Which schedule is Kim following?