CAVEAT (WARNING)
• Controversial topic– Rule control of behavior– Control of behavior by private events
Basic Behavioral Contingencies
R e in fo rce m e nt E sca pe
R e in fo rce m e ntF req u en cy In cre ases
P u n ish m e nt
R e spo n se C o st T im e -O ut
P en a lty
P u n ish m e ntF re qu en cy D ec re ases
B a sic B eh av io ra l C on tin ge n cies
Contingencies
• So far:• Direct acting contingencies
– Reinforcement
– Punishment
• Today:• Other kinds of contingencies
– Indirect acting• Effective
• Ineffective
Simple Reinforcement
• A response becomes more frequent in the future if a reinforcer or an increase in a
reinforcer has immediately followed it in the past
Immediate
• For the person with anorexia– Conversation immediately following eating
XBefore Behavior After
No Conversation Takes a Bite Conversation
What about those activities that were delayed?
• Too delayed to be considered immediate
• Choice of food for next meal, invite companions for next meal, walking around the hospital the next day…..
Before Behavior After
Takes a Bite
XNo Walk Walk
Examples of Reinforcement Contingencies
Before Behavior After
No attention Cries Attention
No cookie Says “Cookie” Cookie
IMMEDIATE
Reinforcement Contingency
Before:
Mary has no conversation
Behavior:
Mary eats a bite
After:
Mary has conversation
IMMEDIATE
Not a Reinforcement Contingency: An Approximation
Before:
Mary cannot go for a walk
Behavior:
Mary eats her whole meal
After:
Mary can go for a walk
DELAY
The next day
Reinforcement Contingency
Before:
Todd has no gum
Behavior:
Todd has a bowel movement
After:
Todd has gum
IMMEDIATE
An approximation
Before:
Todd has no dessert
Behavior:
Todd has a bowel movement
After:
Todd has dessert
A few hours later
Concepts
1. Rule
2. Rule control
3. Rule-governed behavior
4. Contingency control (intuitive control)
Rule
• A description of a behavioral contingency
• Example: If you eat your entire meal, you will have a walk tomorrow
Rule Control
• The statement of a rule controls the response described in that rule
• Example: “If I eat my meal now, I will walk tomorrow.” – AND the person EATS MEAL NOW as a
function of the rule
Contingency Control(Intuitive Control)
• Direct control of behavior by a contingency, without the involvement of rules
What is the basis for rule control?
• Final Word (Malott, et al.):
–Discriminated Avoidance
• THEORETICAL
Erroneous First Approximation
Before:
Todd has no dessert
Behavior:
Todd has a bowel movement
After:
Todd has dessert
A few hours later
Discriminated Avoidance
Before
Todd will lose opp for a dessert after dinner
S
After dinner
SD
(Deadline) Before dinner
After
Todd will lose opp for dessert after dinner
After
Todd will not lose opp for a dessert after dinner
Behavior
Todd has BM
Erroneous First Approximation
Before:
Mary cannot go for a walk
Behavior:
Mary eats her whole meal
After:
Mary can go for a walk
DELAY
The next day
Analog to Discriminated Avoidance
Before
Mary will lose opp to go for walk tomorrow
S
After meal ends
SD
(Deadline) Before meal
ends
After
Mary will lose opp to go for walk tomorrow
After
Mary will not lose opp to go for walk tomorrow
Behavior
Mary eats whole meal
Contingency Trees
• First organized based on direct acting contingencies
• Then organized based on whether the contingencies are direct or indirect acting
Basic Behavioral Contingencies
R e in fo rce m e nt E sca pe
R e in fo rce m e ntF req u en cy In cre ases
P u n ish m e nt
R e spo n se C o st T im e -O ut
P en a lty
P u n ish m e ntF re qu en cy D ec re ases
B a sic B eh av io ra l C on tin ge n cies
Contingency Tree
R e in fo rce m e nt E sca pe
R e in fo rce m e ntF req u en cy In cre ases
P u n ish m e nt
R e spo n se C o st T im e -O ut
P en a lty
P u n ish m e ntF re qu en cy D ec re ases
B a sic B eh av io ra l C on tin ge n cies
Direct Acting (Effective < 60 s)
Not direct Acting (> 60 s delay)
IneffectiveIndirect Acting (effective)
Reinforcement & Punishment Contingencies
Important Distinctions
• Direct acting contingencies
• Indirect acting contingencies
• Ineffective contingencies
Immediate reinforcement
• The effect of the reinforcement procedure decreases as the delay between the response and the outcome increases.
• Reinforcers delayed more than 60 seconds have little or no reinforcing effect.
Ineffective contingencies
• When Fido brings slippers (low operant level), give Fido a biscuit the next day
• What will happen to the likelihood of bringing slippers????
• Give little brother a dessert the next day each time he says “thank you”
• Will thank you’s become more frequent?
Little Brother
• What if you say to brother, “If you say “thank you” on the right occasions, you will receive a special dessert one day later”
• This is the RULE
• Brings language into the picture…..
Direct Acting Contingency
• A contingency for which the outcome of the response reinforces or punishes that response
Examples of Direct Acting Reinforcement Contingencies
Before Behavior After
No attention Cries Attention
No cookie Says “Cookie” Cookie
IMMEDIATE
Indirect Acting Contingency
• A contingency that controls the response, but not because the outcome reinforces or punishes that response
• RULE CONTROL
Indirect acting contingencies
• Rule governed behavior:– Behavior under the control of a rule
• Rule: – A description of a behavioral contingency
• Example: If you eat your whole meal, you can go for a walk tomorrow.
Rule Governed Analog to Direct Acting Behavioral Contingencies
• An increase in the frequency of a response because of a rule describing the contingency.
DELAY & PROMISE
• Cases of delayed reinforcers & PROMISES of delayed reinforcers involve more than the simple procedures of reinforcement.
• This is rule control.
• The behavior occurs not just because of the contingency, but because someone has stated the rule….
Summary:
• Two types of effective behavioral contingencies– Direct acting – controls behavior without
language– Indirect acting – may control behavior but only
if we bring language into the picture (must state the rule that describes the contingency)
How do indirect acting contingencies come to control
behavior?
• Is it stimulus control?
• Is it from control by learned reinforcers?
NOT LIKELY – Cannot establish stimulus control when there is a DELAY between the response and the reinforcer OR between the unlearned reinforcer and the reinforcer
Can stimulus control form under these conditions?
Before
Rudolph has no food pellet
S
SD
After
Rudolph has no water
THE NEXT DAY
Rudolph has food pellet
Behavior
Rudolph presses lever
Could it be learned reinforcement?
• Had feel and sight of BM…
• Always got a dessert afterwards
• So feel and sight of successful bowel movement was paired(?) with dessert
• Pairing procedure altered value of feel and sight of BM?
Pairing Procedure Establishes neutral “click” as a learned reinforcer
Click
No click No food pellet
Food pellet
One day later…
Could rule control be an example of a chain?
• What would happen if the reinforcer provided at the end of the chain was delivered after 24 hours?
• Delays between links of the chain are too great…
Knowledge?
• Delayed reinforcement will occur if you “understand” the relation between your action and the delayed reinforcer.
Rules describing delayed outcomes
• Analog to discriminated avoidance
• Avoidance of loss of opportunity to get a reinforcer
Analog to Discriminated Avoidance
Before
Mary will lose opp to go for walk tomorrow
S
After meal ends
SD
(Deadline) Before meal
ends
After
Mary will lose opp to go for walk tomorrow
After
Mary will not lose opp to go for walk tomorrow
Behavior
Mary eats whole meal