|
|
|
The purpose of this exercise is to teach the concept of positive reinforcement and also to provide an idea of the kind of self-instructional exercises used in many Athabasca University course packages. Some technical notes about this lesson are available. A page of frequently asked questions about positive reinforcement is also available.
In the first part of this exercise, the concept of positive reinforcement is defined and illustrated in six example/nonexample pairs. In an example/nonexample pair, an example of a concept is slightly altered to form a nonexample; this enables the student to tell the difference between examples and nonexamples that have similar content.
In the second part of this exercise, students classify 14 examples and nonexamples and are given feedback about their performance. This task gives the student practice at responding to novel examples and nonexamples, ones that have not been previously presented.
Note that if positive reinforcement were being taught in a standard course, much more background material would be provided about the concept to give students an appropriate context in which to understand the concept, relate it to other concepts, and eventually to be able to apply the concept. In this tutorial, however, this background material is omitted in favor of demonstrating some important features of self-instructional exercises that can be effectively used in distance education.
This tutorial is intended for students at the university level, and should require from .5 to 1.5 hours to complete.
Positive reinforcement is one of the key concepts in behavior analysis, a field within psychology. Positive reinforcers are something like rewards, or things we will generally work to get. However, the definition of a positive reinforcement is more precise than that of reward. Specifically, we can say that positive reinforcement has occurred when three conditions have been met:
Stephan and Cody were two mentally disabled boys who seldom smiled at other people. Dr. Hopkins used a procedure in which he would take them for walks, and if they smiled at passers by, he would give them some pieces of M & M's candy. This procedure caused Stephan and Cody to smile much more often than they had before.
Stephan and Cody were two mentally disabled boys who seldom smiled at other people. Dr. Hopkins used a procedure in which he would take them for walks, and if they smiled at passers by, he would give them some pieces of M & M's candy. Stephan and Cody ate the candy quickly.
The first item is an example of positive reinforcement. First, a consequence was presented dependent upon the target behavior. The candy was dependent on smiling because there was an if-then relationship between smiling and candy: If smiling occurred, candy was presented; but if no smiling occurred, no candy was presented. Second, there was an increase in the level of smiling. Third, the increase in the level of smiling was due to the relationship between smiling and candy.
The second item is not an example of reinforcement because there is no mention of an increase in the level of the target behavior. There must be an increase in some measure of the behavior in order to say that reinforcement has occurred.
Source: Hopkins (1968)
Martha was a five-year-old girl who attended preschool. She seldom played with the other children. Workers at the preschool began praising and admiring Martha when she engaged in cooperative play with other children. As a result of this procedure Martha's level of cooperative play with the other children increased.
Martha was a five-year-old girl who attended preschool. She seldom played with the other children. Workers at the preschool began praising and admiring Martha more than they had before. As a result of this procedure, Martha's level of cooperative play with the other children increased.
The first item is an example of positive reinforcement. First the praise and admiration were presented dependent on cooperative play because there was an if-then relationship between cooperative play and praise and admiration. Second, the level of cooperative play increased. Third, the increase in cooperative play was due to the dependency between cooperative play and praise.
The second item is not an example of positive reinforcement because the presentation of the consequences, praise and admiration, was not response-dependent. In order to say that an increase in behavior is due to reinforcement, the behavior must have a response-dependent consequence; there must be an if-then relationship between the behavior and the consequence. In this example, there is no mention of an if-then relationship between the cooperative play and presentation of praise and admiration. When there is no consistent if-then relationship between a response and a stimulus presentation, the stimulus presentation is said to be response-independent.
Students in Professor Ohno's class were given a weekly quiz. The students' percent correct quiz responding on the first quiz was low, so Professor Ohno began praising the performance of those students who answered the quiz questions correctly. As a result of this procedure, the students' quiz performance improved on the rest of the quizzes.
Students in Professor Ohno's class were given a weekly quiz. Over the years Professor Ohno had given a lecture in which he emphasized two rules for success in his class: study hard, and pay careful attention to your work. Ohno would sometimes give the rules before the students had done any work, and would sometimes give it after they had taken several quizzes. No matter when he gave the lecture, it would always improve the students' percent correct quiz responding.
The first item is an example of positive reinforcement. Praise was dependent on correct quiz responses, correct responses increased, and correct responses increased because of the dependent relationship of responses and consequences.
The second item is not an example of reinforcement. Here the increase in the target behavior is due to a rule or instruction to engage in a behavior, not to positive reinforcement. Giving a rule or an instruction to engage in a behavior can sometimes strengthen a behavior, but this strengthening is not due to response-dependent consequences. That the strengthened behavior in the second item was not due to a response-dependent consequence is shown by the fact that Ohno's rules improved the students' performance even when they were presented before the target behavior had occurred. In general, do not classify items in which rules or instructions to engage in the behavior are used as examples of reinforcement.
Dee was a three-year-old girl enrolled in nursery school. She crawled, crouched, or sat 93% of the time at school and was on her feet only 7% of the time. The teachers implemented a procedure in which Dee was not given any attention for off-feet behavior. Conversely, when she was on her feet the teachers gave Dee special attention and tried to make her feel liked and appreciated. This procedure resulted in Dee engaging in on-feet behavior almost all the time like the other children at the school.
Dee was a three-year-old girl enrolled in nursery school. She crawled, crouched, or sat 93% of the time at school and was on her feet only 7% of the time. The teachers implemented a procedure in which whenever Dee was off-feet, she was made to stand in a corner of the room for five minutes with her back to the room. This procedure resulted in Dee engaging in on-feet behavior almost all the time like the other children at the school.
The first item is an example of positive reinforcement because presentation of attention was dependent upon the target behavior of being on-feet, and this resulted in an increase in the level of the target behavior.
The second item is not an example of positive reinforcement because there was no stimulus presentation dependent upon the target behavior. Instead, in the second item, the stimulus change was dependent upon behavior other than the target behavior (i.e., dependent on not engaging in the target behavior). In order to say that positive reinforcement has occurred, a stimulus must be presented following and dependent upon the target behavior, not dependent on behavior other than the target behavior or dependent on the failure to engage in the target behavior.
In an elementary school classroom research was conducted to study the effects of teacher behavior on student behavior. During one phase of the study, the teacher began disapproving of the students' disruptive behaviors when they occurred. This resulted in an increase in the level of disruptive behaviors.
In an elementary school classroom research was conducted to study the effects of teacher behavior on student behavior. During one phase of the study, the teacher began disapproving of the students' disruptive behaviors when they occurred. This resulted in a decrease in the level of disruptive behaviors.
The first item is an example of positive reinforcement because teacher disapproval was presented dependent on the disruptive behaviors, and this caused an increase in the level of the target behaviors. The second item is not an example of positive reinforcement because the procedure caused a decrease in the target behavior levels, not an increase.
As illustrated in the first item, stimuli and events that seem negative, undesirable, or even painful can act as positive reinforcers.
Phoenecia was a 67-year-old woman who had had a stroke six months earlier. As a result she was unable to use her left forearm, because she could not flex her left elbow. To solve this problem, a researcher set up an apparatus in which a counter indicated a number of points. Phoenecia earned points on the counter by flexing her left elbow 5 degrees. After the physiotherapy session, Phoenecia could exchange the points for money. As a result of this method, Phoenecia flexed her left elbow much more often than she had before. After 19 sessions, Phoenecia could flex her elbow as much as 70 degrees.
Phoenecia was a 67-year-old woman who had had a stroke six months earlier. As a result she was unable to use her left forearm, because she could not flex her left elbow. To solve this problem, a researcher attached electrodes to Phoenecia's right forearm and administered an electric shock. Phoenecia could turn off the shock by flexing her left elbow 5 degrees. As a result of this method, Phoenecia flexed her elbow much more often than she had before when the shock came on. After 19 sessions, Phoenecia could flex her elbow as much as 70 degrees.
The first item is an example of positive reinforcement, because presentation of points was dependent on flexing the elbow, and the procedure caused an increase in the level of flexing the elbow. The second item is not an example of positive reinforcement because the removal of a stimulus, the shock, was dependent on the target behavior. Positive reinforcement involves the response-dependent presentation of a stimulus, not the response-dependent removal of a stimulus.
Source: Ince (1969)
You have now reached the end of this section and may proceed to an interactive exercise that will give you practice in correctly identifying examples of positive reinforcement. In the exercise, you will be asked to respond to several different types of examples and nonexamples of positive reinforcement. To complete the exercise, you must correctly answer each example subtype and each nonexample subtype once. The computer will keep track of your performance and periodically give you a summary of how well you are doing.
visitors since January 12, 1996
Centre for Psychology Home Page | Athabasca University Home Page
Date created: January 12, 1996 by Lyle K. Grant
