Welcome to another installment of Topic Tuesday!
Today’s topic we are going to tackle is from Heather Giurlando who is a BCBA at the Londonderry REC. Heather is tackling the word reinforcement today.
I am going follow Mark’s topic with a snapshot about reinforcement which is also a significant part of motivating operations. Reinforcement is amazing! It is something that everyone comes in contact with every day. History of reinforcement is what strengthens our behaviors as we interact with our environment. It is as simple as adding something or taking away something contingent on a behavior that given the right conditions makes it more likely that behavior will happen in the future.
Positive Reinforcement
The delivery of positive reinforcers could be that smoothie you get after working out at the gym, or your paycheck you receive twice a month after working at your place of employment, or the coffee you have time to get because you got up on time.
Negative Reinforcement
An example of negative reinforcement is turning on windshield wipers to remove water from the windshield. The successful removal of water from the windshield makes it more likely that the driver will turn on the windshield wipers the next time they are driving in the rain.
When we see a child run towards a therapist we know that there is a solid history of reinforcement in that child-therapist relationship. It is evident by the smile on that child’s face that the therapist is giving many more positive praise statements than corrective statements. It is clear that the reinforcers are being chosen carefully and are individualized to that child. When we see a child making progress we know that reinforcers are most likely being delivered immediately and contingently for targeted correct responses.
When the child is excited to do their “work” on a daily basis we know that the reinforcers are being varied and the skills we are teaching are being embedded in fun activities so that sometimes the child doesn’t even think of it as work! Having individualized, varied reinforcers, delivering those reinforcers immediately and contingently after the target response are significant components of ensuring progress during instruction.
Heather Giurlando, M.S. BCBA
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