Lecture 5: Decreasing Behaviour

Wednesday, 7 February 2024 19:23

Differential Reinforcement
• Implementation of different schedules of reinforcement and/or non-reinforcement
simultaneously in order to increase desirable behaviour while decreasing undesirable
behaviour.
• So, you're increasing one behaviour while simultaneously decreasing another
• There are three differential reinforcement procedures
○ Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates of Responding (DRL)
○ Differential Reinforcement of Zero Responding (DR0)
○ Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviours (DRI)
○ Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviours (DRA)
Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates of Responding
• In DRL a low rate of behaviour is reinforced
• Used when a low rate of the problem behaviour can be tolerated or when the behaviour is
only a problem because of its high rate
• Limited Responding DRL: specifies a maximum allowable number of responses during a
certain time interval in order for a reinforcer to occur
• Spaced-Responding DRL: requires that a specified behaviour not occur during a
specified interval, and after the interval has passed, an instance of that behaviour must
then occur for a reinforcer to occur
• Can eliminate target behaviour altogether if the response criterion for reinforcement is
gradually decreased to zero (e.g. alternative to going "cold turkey"

Differential Reinforcement of Zero Responding

• Schedule in which a reinforcer is presented only if a specified response does NOT occur
during a specified period of time
• Used when low rates of the problem behaviour are not tolerated
• Gradual increase in the length of interval
○ E.g. go 1 minute without the behaviour, then 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 20
minutes, then 30 mins and so on
• In developing a DR0 program, it is important to choose an appropriate time interval for
delivering the reinforcer
○ Undesirable behaviour occurs frequently -> short DR0 interval
○ Undesirable behaviour occurs infrequently -> longer DR0 interval
○ i.e. time interval should result in high frequency of reinforcement initially
Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviour
• To eliminate a target behaviour, reinforce a response that cannot be emitted at the same
time as the target response

Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviours

• By decreasing undesirable behaviour, an opportunity for the desirable behaviour to occur
and be reinforced is created
• Useful in cases in which you want to increase the rate of a desirable behaviour, the
desirable behaviour is already occurring, and you have access to a reinforcer that can be
delivered after the occurrence of the behaviour

Pitfalls of Differential Reinforcement Procedures for Decreasing Behaviour

• Unaware Misapplication pitfall
○ Unknowingly reinforce a desirable behaviour on a DRL, thereby causing that
desirable behaviour to occur at a low rate rather than reinforcing the behaviour on a
schedule that would maintain at a high rate

Punishment to Reduce Behaviour

• Punishment is the occurrence of an adverse event or stimulus as a consequence of an
undesirable behaviour that makes the behaviour less likely to occur again in the future
• In order to be effective:
○ It occurs immediately after the problem behaviour;
○ It is not a form of moral sanction, vengeance, or retribution;
○ It is not used to deter others from engaging in the target behaviour
• Positive punishment: delivery of a psychologically or physically aversive event or
stimulus as a consequence of a behaviour.
• Negative punishment: removal of a pleasant or desirable event or stimulus as a
consequence of a behaviour.

•
Types of Punishers
• Physical Punishers
○ Stimuli that cause physical discomfort
○ Most activate pain receptors
○ E.g. bad scent, bad taste
• Reprimand
○ a strong negative verbal stimulus immediately contingent on behaviour
• Timeout
○ A period of time immediately following a particular behaviour during which an
individual loses the opportunity to earn reinforcers
○ Exclusionary timeout consists of removing an individual briefly from a reinforcing
situation immediately following a behaviour
○ Non-exclusionary timeout consists of introducing a stimulus associated with less
reinforcement into the situation immediately following a behaviour. For example,
instead of sending someone to a corner, a teacher gives a student a red card which
discourages the behaviour
○ There are six conditions for a timeout:
• Person should be aware of the reason for time out and its duration
• The duration of timeout should be brief
• No reinforcers should be present or introduced during the timeout period
• Time out should be terminated only when the specified time has elapsed
• Time out also should be terminated only when the child is behaving
appropriately
• Time out should not allow to escape or avoid situations they find unpleasant,
including responsibilities
○ Benefits of timeout:
• Highly effective and efficient when applied correctly
• Easily learned by children
• Children generally comply with the procedure
• Just the threat of time-out can serve as a deterrent for future misbehaviour
• Also provides “time-out” for change agent from aversive elements of the
misbehaviour
○ Disadvantages of timeout:
• Incorrect implementation can result in misapplication and ineffective outcome
• Doesn’t work with all clients, for e.g. kids with ADHD

• Response Cost
○ Involves the removal of a specified amount of a reinforcer immediately following
behaviour
○ For example, a speeding ticket (removal of money following not abiding by speed
limits)
○ Benefits of response cost:
• Highly effective and enduring
• Easily implemented
• Most people view response cost as an acceptable therapy, which facilitates its
application

Conditioned and Unconditioned Punishment

• Unconditioned Punishers
○ Also referred to as natural or primary punishers
○ Have innate punishing properties
○ Usually function as punishers the first time they are presented, no prior experience is
required
○ Typically, the ability of behaviour to be punished by these stimuli or events has
survival value
○ Examples include pain, intense light or sound, extreme heat or cold
• Conditioned Punishers
○ Also referred to as secondary punishers
○ They do not have an innate punishing property
○ Stimuli that are neutral and that acquire punishing properties through association
with conditioned punishers or other conditioned punishers
○ Often stimuli associated with the loss of reinforcement become punishers
○ Examples include a speeding or parking ticket
○ Several factors affect the strength of conditioned punishers
• Magnitude of the punishing stimulus or event.
• Number of pairings of the secondary stimulus and punishing stimulus or event.
• Time elapsing between presentation of the secondary punisher and primary
punishing stimulus or event

Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Punishment

• The Conditions for a Desirable Alternative Response: To decrease an undesirable
response, it is generally considered to be maximally effective to increase some desirable
alternative response that will compete with the undesirable behaviour to be eliminated.
• The Cause of Undesirable Behaviour: Minimise the causes of undesirable behaviour.
Identify and eliminate existing reinforcers that are maintaining the undesirable behaviour
• The Punishing Stimulus: Be sure that the punisher is effective. The more strong or
effective the punishing stimulus the more effective it will be in decreasing the undesirable
behaviour. Even a mild punisher, such as a reprimand, can be effective if the reinforcer for
the undesirable behaviour is withheld following instances of the behaviour and if a
desirable alternative behaviour is reinforced with a strong reinforcer.
 • The Antecedents (including verbal rules) for Punishment: A stimulus in the presence
of which a response will be punished. Sort of acts as what comes before a punishment, so
for example scowling when undesirable behaviour is exhibited and then presenting the
punishment. In the future, punishment can be avoided by simply observing the scowling
face and thus reducing the behaviour
• The Delivery of the Punisher: To increase the effectiveness of punishment when
delivering it, several guidelines should be followed:
○ The punisher should be presented immediately following the undesirable behaviour.
If the punisher is delayed, a more desirable behaviour may occur prior to the use of
the punisher, and his behaviour may be suppressed to a much greater extent than
the undesirable behaviour.
○ The punisher should be presented following every instance of the undesirable
behaviour. Occasional punishment is not as effective as punishment after every
instance of the undesirable behaviour.
○ The delivery of the punisher should not be paired with positive reinforcement. This
requirement often presents difficulties when the punisher is delivered by an adult and
the individual being punished receives very little adult attention.
○ The person administering the punisher should remain calm when doing so. Anger
and frustration on the part of the person administering the punisher may reinforce the
undesirable behaviour or inappropriately alter the consistency or intensity of the
punisher.

Potential Negative Consequences of Punishment

• Pain-induced aggression
○ When animals or people are punished, they experience pain. This pain may elicit the
emotion of anger which, in turn, may lead to aggressive behaviour.
○ Aggression can serve to reduce arousal (anger); thus, the reduction in anger can
negatively reinforce aggression.
• Emotional Behaviour
○ Punishment, especially physical punishment, can produce undesirable emotional
side effects, such as crying and general fearfulness
• Modelling of Aggression
○ Aggressive behaviour that is learned not through reinforcement but through
observation of another person’s behaviour.
• Escape and avoidance
○ Any behaviour that results in avoidance of an aversive stimulus or event is
strengthened through negative reinforcement.
• Generalisation to Similar Behaviour
○ It may not be desirable for behaviours that are similar to the target behaviour to be
suppressed
• Overuse of Punishment
○ Because punishment often results in rapid suppression of undesirable behaviour, it
can tempt the user to rely heavily on it and neglect the use of positive reinforcement
for desirable behaviour.
• No New Behaviour
○ Punishment does not establish any new behaviour; it only suppresses old behaviour