Chapter 15 Differential Reinforcement Flashcards
(15 cards)
what is differential reinforcement and what are the types?
uses principles of reinforcement and extinction to increase occurrence of desirable behaviours or decrease occurrence of undesirable behaviours. Includes:differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA), differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO), and differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (DRL).
differential reinforcement of alternative behaviour(DRA)
decreases problem behaviour by reinforcing functionally equivalent alternative behaviour to replace the problem behaviour
increases a desirable behaviour by decreasing interfering behaviour to create an opportunity to reinforce desirable behaviour
when to use DRA
if the target behaviour is already occurring occasionally(if it is not shaping and prompting can be used to evoke the behaviour)
if you have access to a reinforcer you can deliver after the behaviour
preference assessment
A process of identifying reinforcers for an individual that involves presenting potential reinforcers and measuring whether the individual approaches, manipulates, or consumes the item. Preference assessments can be conducted in at least three different ways; single stimulus assessment, paired stimulus assessment, and multiple stimulus assessment.
reinforcer assessment
an item from a preference assessment is delivered contingent on a behaviour to see if the behaviour increases
what is another technique to assess reinforcers
make each potential reinforcers contingent on an operant response, and if frequency/duration of the response increases, the item is a reinforcer
types of DRA
differential reinforcement of an incompatible behaviour (DRI): physically incompatible behaviour is reinforced to replace the problem behaviour
differential reinforcement of communication/functional communication training: functionally equivalent communication response is reinforced to replace the problem behaviour
differential reinforcement of other behaviour
involves reinforcing the absence of the problem behaviour, reinforcers is delivered after intervals of time in which the problem behaviour did not occur
reinforcement for not responding, reinforcing zero rate
variations of DRO
whole-interval DRO: problem behaviour must be absent for whole interval
momentary DRO: problem behaviour must be absent at the end of the interval, can be used to maintain behaviour change after whole-interval DRO
when is DRO most effective
when the reinforcer can be identified and eliminated
when intervals are based on baseline rate of behaviour
whole-interval DRO
differential reinforcement of low rates of responding
used when the goal is to decrease but not totally eliminate target behaviour, low rate of behaviour is reinforced after a period of time to decrease that behaviour, ex. decreasing talk-outs during class time for special needs kids
reinforcer is delivered when behaviour decreases to criterion level
used when low rate of the problem behaviour can be tolerated or when the behaviour is only a problem because of its high rate
variations of DRL
full session DRL: reinforcer is delivered if fewer than a specified number of responses occur with a period of time(the session)
spaced-responding DRL: reinforcer is delivered after a specified time between responses, used to pace behaviour, helpful to have cilent keep track of their responses
interval DRL: session is divided into consecutive intervals and a reinforcer is delivered if no more than one response occurred in each interval (average time between responses)
studies investigating/examples of spaced-responding DRL
decrease the rate of stereotypicall behaviour in adults with intellectual disabilities
stereotypical behaviour/self stimulatory behaviour: repetitive behaviours that serve no social function
decrease speed of eating in morbidly obese/intellectually disabled people
interresponse time (IRT)
time between occurrence of consecutive responses
when should DRA DRO and DRL be used?
DRA should be used when you want to increase and existing behaviour.
DRO should be used when you want to eliminate an undesirable behaviour. DRL should be used when you want to decrease the frequency of but not necessarily eliminate a behaviour.
