Reinforcement

Reinforcement is an environmental variable that immediately follows a behaviour and that increases or maintains the frequency of that behaviour. Reinforcement is an indispensable component of learning and can be used effectively with learners of any age, whatever their cognitive level or their ability to communicate. In this section you will learn more about the principles of reinforcement, strategies to identify and validate potential reinforcers, a method to develop new reinforcers, and the characteristics of effective reinforcement.

Basic Principles of Reinforcement
Reinforcement is a consequence, that is, an activity, action, or condition that immediately follows a behaviour. Consequences can be reinforcing (pleasant) or punitive (unpleasant). When the consequences are reinforcing, the behaviour is likely to continue and even intensify. If the consequences are punitive, the behaviour may fade away or stop. Reinforcement thus directs human behaviour. It may accelerate the learning process by creating motivation to maintain a specific behaviour.



Reinforcement is a phenomenon that occurs continuously, sometimes even without being noticed. A smile, an interaction with a friend, a child’s laugh, or even a feeling of pleasure can be reinforcing conditions that will increase the probability that the behaviour that precedes them will happen again. This is what is called naturally occurring reinforcement.

Reinforcement may also be deliberately planned, or contrived, in a teaching context. When you are trying to teach a new skill or increase the frequency of a behaviour, you can use contrived reinforcement. For example, a child could be offered a small candy when they go to the washroom on their own or a teenager could be offered a little money when they perform some household tasks.

Finding Potential Reinforcers
Consequences do not have the same effect on all individuals. A smile, for example, could act as a reinforcing consequence for one person and have absolutely no effect on someone else. In fact, so-called “pleasant” actions or conditions do not necessarily act as reinforcing consequences and do not always increase the probability of seeing a behaviour repeated.
A reinforcer is different than a reward. A reward is chosen on the assumption that it will encourage the person to repeat a behaviour. A reinforcer must prove its function by increasing or maintaining the frequency of a behaviour.
A reinforcer is an item or event presented immediately after the behaviour that encourages repetition of this behaviour. There is an infinite variety of elements that can be used as reinforcers, including praise, attention, food, activities, toys, money, and tokens.

• Some things, such as food, water, or heat, are primary reinforcers. They meet primary and basic needs, and the desire to fill these needs is innate (it does not need to be learned).
• Secondary reinforcers are items or events that are initially neutral (i.e., they do not have any special value as reinforcers), but they become effective reinforcers when they are paired regularly with other reinforcers. For example, a newborn does not place any importance on a five-dollar bill. Money has no reinforcing value until children learn that money can buy them the things they want.
• A generalized reinforcer is a secondary reinforcer that has become effective for a range of behaviours under different circumstances. For example, money may be used to encourage a variety of different behaviours.

To use reinforcement effectively, it is important to determine the potential reinforcers unique to each learner. We are therefore seeking to identify preferred items, activities, or events. There are three methods to finding potential reinforcers. Click on each one to learn more.

---

Validating the Function of Reinforcers
When the learner has shown a preference for an item or an activity, it must then be verified that this item can truly function as a reinforcer, that is, that it can increase the probability that a behaviour will be repeated. The only way of knowing if an item or activity is really acting as a reinforcer is to observe and measure its effect on a target behaviour. An item may act as a reinforcer for a specific behaviour, but not have an effect on another behaviour. For example, a parent offers his daughter a little money when she does household chores and she does these tasks regularly. Then the parent decides to offer his daughter a little money when she mows the lawn, yet the girl does not mow the lawn again. The money thus acts as a reinforcer for the target behaviour Doing household chores, but does not act as a reinforcer for the target behaviour Mowing the lawn.

Motivation
Motivation may change the value of a consequence. Depending on the degree of motivation felt at a specific time, the consequences may increase or decrease the probability of the occurrence of the target behaviour. Two motivating factors may affect the value of the consequence:

• Deprivation is related to the time elapsed without access to a particular reinforcer. The deprivation effect may bring about an increase in motivation. For example, a child who has not been able to go to the playground because of bad weather may be more motivated than usual to return as soon as the weather is fine.
• Satiation refers to the frequency of access to a reinforcer. The satiation effect generally brings a decrease in the frequency of the behaviour. For example, the reinforcing effect of food decreases when you have had enough, and you are less likely to engage in behaviour that provides access to food.

Motivation determines what a person wants at a particular time and constantly changes according to the degree of deprivation and satiation. It is important to consider motivation when you are planning reinforcement. It is necessary to have recourse to a variety of secondary reinforcers to avoid the satiation effect.

Pairing

Pairing is a process that makes it possible to create new reinforcers. It is an important process, especially for learners responding to a limited number of reinforcers. It is a matter of offering a learner an effective reinforcer (primary or secondary) at the same time as a neutral item or event. For example, praise or other social reinforcers will not have any effect on the behaviour of a learner indifferent to this type of reinforcer. However, if the adult offers the learner praise at the same time as a toy or another tangible reinforcer, the praise may eventually become reinforcing for the learner by association.

Pairing is also important because it makes it possible to create reinforcers commonly available in the natural learning environment. Whereas planned reinforcement is sometimes necessary in the learning process, it is much more effective to use naturally occurring reinforcement. For example, it may be necessary to offer a learner a planned reinforcer (an item or a favourite toy) when he is learning to strike up a conversation with his peers. However, it would be much more effective to pair these with planned social reinforcers, such as smiles or nods. A learner’s behaviour could be reinforced more naturally that way.

Characteristics of Effective Reinforcement
When a reinforcer has been identified and validated, it is ready to be used to increase or maintain the frequency of a target behaviour. When implementing the reinforcement, several factors may influence its effectiveness. Following are four important factors to consider when you use reinforcement with a learner:

---

When used intentionally, reinforcement must represent clear feedback. In other words, it must clearly signal the correct behaviour, and learners must be able to easily distinguish when it is being offered and when it is not. The learner's motivation lies in their desire to obtain the reinforcers available.

---

Examples
Frederick

Frederick is seven years old. Based on the results of the Comprehensive Assessment for Learning and Independence – Functional Skills for Independence, the team targets the skill Respecting personal space.

During a meeting, Frederick’s team plans the reinforcement that will be implemented during the intervention. Since Frederick’s parents are present at the meeting, Ms. Blanchard asks them what Frederick’s favourite items or activities are and takes note of their answers.

A few days later, Ms. Blanchard meets with Frederick to validate the list of potential reinforcers provided by his parents. To do so, she offers three exercises at a similar level of difficulty: draw a C, draw an O, draw a D. Each exercise is associated with a specific potential reinforcer. Ms. Blanchard observes the letter Frederick chooses to draw the most. Frederick indicates his favourite item, and Ms. Blanchard deduces that it seems to be the most effective reinforcer. She repeats the activity with three other exercises and thus confirms that three of the parents’ six suggested reinforcers increase the frequency of Frederick’s behaviour.

But Ms. Blanchard is worried: she has only validated three potential reinforcers, and that might not be enough to conduct the intervention with Frederick. She therefore decides to observe Frederick in his free time to note the activities he likes to participate in and the items he likes to use. She adds three additional ideas to the list of potential reinforcers.

Question: What areas of strength and areas for improvement do you see in Ms. Blanchard's identification and validation of potential reinforcers?



Penny

Penny is 14. Based on the results of the Comprehensive Assessment for Learning and Independence – Functional Skills for Independence, the team targets the skill Protects contact information on the Internet.

During a meeting, Penny’s team plans the reinforcement that will be implemented during the intervention. To clearly identify the potential reinforcers, Mr. Park questions Penny and her parents and prepares a list of approximately 10 items/activities she likes. From this list, he conducts a preference assessment trial, determines a preference hierarchy, and then validates the effect of these potential reinforcers through an activity with Penny. He concludes that seven items can act as reinforcers for her.

Ms. Judson is responsible for implementing the intervention with Penny in cooperation with her parents and Mr. Park. Ms. Judson uses the list that Mr. Park gave her and offers Penny a variety of reinforcers. In order for Penny to stay motivated even when her task is difficult, Ms. Judson lengthens the period during which Penny has access to her reinforcer. Sometimes she also offers her a reinforcer when she makes a mistake. However, she explains to Penny that she has made a mistake and shows her how to correct it the next time. Since the teaching sessions take place in the morning, and one of the reinforcers on the list is a special snack, Ms. Judson decides to wait until after lunch to offer it to Penny.

Question: What areas of strength and areas for improvement do you see in Ms. Judson's approach to reinforcement? Keep the characteristics of effective reinforcement in mind.