Operant Conditioning Glossary

A

ABC model

The antecedent–behavior–consequence framework for reading any operant: what set the occasion (A), what the organism did (B), and what followed (C). It is another name for the three-term contingency and the basis of functional behavior assessment. The ABC model in depth ›

Abolishing operation (AO)

A motivating operation that temporarily decreases the effectiveness of a reinforcer (or punisher) and decreases the current frequency of behavior that has produced it. A large meal is an abolishing operation for food: food reinforces less, and food-seeking drops. The opposite of an establishing operation. Motivating operations ›

Acquisition

The phase of learning in which a new behavior is being established and its rate rises from baseline as reinforcement takes hold. Continuous reinforcement produces the fastest acquisition; behavior is then usually shifted to an intermittent schedule so that it persists. Schedules of reinforcement ›

Antecedent

Any stimulus or condition present before a behavior that influences whether it occurs: a cue, an instruction, a place, a time of day, a bodily state. The "A" in A-B-C. The two most important kinds are discriminative stimuli, which signal that reinforcement is available, and motivating operations, which change how much the reinforcer is worth. Antecedents explained ›

Applied behavior analysis (ABA)

The discipline that applies the principles of operant conditioning to socially significant behavior and measures whether the change is real. Baer, Wolf, and Risley defined the field in 1968 by seven dimensions: applied, behavioral, analytic, technological, conceptually systematic, effective, and showing generality. Used in autism intervention, education, organizational management, and behavioral medicine. ABA in practice ›

Automatic reinforcement

Reinforcement produced directly by the behavior itself rather than delivered by another person — scratching an itch, humming, rocking, twirling hair. Behavior that persists when the person is alone is often automatically reinforced, which is why "alone" is one of the conditions in a functional analysis.

Autoshaping (sign-tracking)

The emergence of a response — a pigeon pecking a lit key, a rat nosing a lever — when a stimulus is repeatedly followed by a reinforcer whether or not the animal responds. Discovered by Brown and Jenkins in 1968, it persists even when responding cancels the reinforcer, so it is not maintained by reinforcement; it is classical conditioning producing behavior directed at the signal. Autoshaping explained ›

Aversive stimulus

A stimulus an organism will work to escape or avoid. Functionally, one whose removal reinforces behavior (negative reinforcement) and whose presentation punishes it (positive punishment). Like reinforcers, aversive stimuli are identified by their effect on behavior, not by how unpleasant they seem to an observer.

Avoidance

Behavior that prevents an aversive stimulus from occurring at all, maintained by negative reinforcement: buckling up before the chime sounds, paying a bill before the late fee. Contrast escape, which ends an aversive stimulus that is already present. Avoidance learning ›

B

Backward chaining

Teaching a behavior chain by starting with the last step and adding earlier steps one at a time, so every training trial ends with the chain's natural reinforcer. A child learning to put on a shirt first does only the final tug down, then the last two steps, and so on. Forward, backward and total-task chaining ›

Baseline

Measurement of a behavior before any intervention, used as the comparison for judging whether the intervention worked. In single-case research designs the baseline is the "A" phase of an A-B or A-B-A-B design (unrelated to the "A" for antecedent).

Behavior

Anything an organism does that can be observed and measured — walking, talking, pressing, and, in radical behaviorism, private events such as thinking. A useful target behavior is active and specific, and passes the dead man's test.

Behavior analysis

The natural science of behavior founded on Skinner's work, with three branches: the experimental analysis of behavior (basic laboratory research), applied behavior analysis, and the conceptual branch, radical behaviorism. B. F. Skinner ›

Behavioral contrast

A change in the rate of a behavior in one situation caused by a change in reinforcement in another. When reinforcement is reduced in the presence of one stimulus, responding often increases in the presence of a second stimulus where reinforcement has not changed (Reynolds, 1961). Practically: put a behavior on extinction at school and it may rise at home.

Behavioral momentum

John Nevin's metaphor for the persistence of behavior under disruption — extinction, distraction, satiation, or free reinforcers. The "mass" of a behavior depends on the rate of reinforcement obtained in the presence of a stimulus, so behavior from a richly reinforced context is harder to disrupt than behavior from a lean one. Momentum and resistance to extinction ›

Behaviorism

The position that psychology should be a science of behavior. Methodological behaviorism, associated with John B. Watson, restricts the science to publicly observable events. Radical behaviorism, Skinner's version, treats private events — thoughts, feelings — as behavior subject to the same principles. The history of behaviorism ›

Bridge (marker signal)

A conditioned reinforcer, such as a clicker or the word "yes," delivered the instant the target behavior occurs to "bridge" the delay until the primary reinforcer arrives. The bridge is what makes precise timing possible when the treat is still in your pocket. Clicker training ›

C

Chaining

Teaching a sequence of behaviors in which each response produces the discriminative stimulus for the next, with a reinforcer at the end of the chain. Built from a task analysis and taught forward, backward, or as a whole task. Contrast shaping, which builds a single new response. Chaining in depth ›

Classical conditioning

Pavlov's form of learning, in which a neutral stimulus paired with an unconditioned stimulus comes to elicit a reflexive response on its own: bell, then food, until the bell alone produces salivation. Also called respondent or Pavlovian conditioning. The key event comes before the response, whereas in operant conditioning it comes after. Operant vs. classical conditioning ›

Compulsion loop

A game-design pattern — anticipation, activity, reward, repeat — built on a variable schedule of reinforcement to keep players engaged. The term comes from the industry; the mechanism is the variable-ratio schedule. Technology and product design ›

Conditioned punisher

A previously neutral stimulus that has acquired punishing function by being paired with other punishers — the word "no," a frown, a warning light. Also called a secondary punisher. Like all punishers, it is defined by the fact that it decreases the behavior it follows.

Conditioned reinforcer

A previously neutral stimulus that has acquired reinforcing function through pairing with existing reinforcers: money, praise, grades, tokens, the click of a clicker. Also called a secondary reinforcer. Conditioned reinforcers make delayed real-world consequences workable. Conditioned reinforcers in depth ›

Consequence

The stimulus change that follows a behavior — the "C" in A-B-C. A consequence that increases the behavior is reinforcement; one that decreases it is punishment; the absence of a consequence that used to arrive produces extinction. How much a consequence matters depends on contiguity and contingency.

Contiguity

Closeness in time between a behavior and its consequence. The shorter the delay, the stronger the effect; delays of even a few seconds sharply weaken operant learning, which is why a paycheck at month's end reinforces very little of any particular Tuesday's work. Why timing matters ›

Contingency

The dependency between a behavior and a consequence: if this behavior, then this consequence. Learning requires that the consequence actually depend on the behavior; reinforcers that arrive regardless produce superstitious behavior instead. The word is also used for the whole antecedent–behavior–consequence relation, the three-term contingency.

Contingency management

A treatment, chiefly for substance use disorders, in which tangible reinforcers such as vouchers or prize draws are delivered contingent on objectively verified behavior — most often drug-negative urine samples or attendance. It is one of the best-supported psychosocial treatments for stimulant use disorders. Operant conditioning in health care ›

Continuous reinforcement (CRF)

A schedule in which every occurrence of the behavior is reinforced. It produces the fastest acquisition and the fastest extinction, so it is used to build a behavior and then thinned to an intermittent schedule to make the behavior durable. Continuous vs. intermittent reinforcement ›

Contrafreeloading

Working for a reinforcer that is also freely available: a rat with a dish of food will still press a lever for the same food. Reported by Jensen in 1963 and found in most species tested, it shows that the opportunity to explore and manipulate is reinforcing in its own right.

Cumulative record

The graph produced by Skinner's cumulative recorder: paper feeds at a constant speed while a pen steps up with every response, so the slope of the line is the rate of responding. The signature patterns of each schedule — the fixed-interval scallop, the fixed-ratio break-and-run — were discovered on cumulative records. The Skinner box and its recorder ›

D

Dead man's test

A rule of thumb proposed by Ogden Lindsley: if a dead man can do it, it isn't behavior. "Not hitting" and "staying quiet" fail the test; "keeping hands on the desk" and "raising a hand" pass. It keeps target behaviors active and reinforceable.

Delay discounting

The decline in the present value of a reinforcer as the delay to receiving it increases. Steep discounting — preferring a small reward now to a larger one later — is associated with impulsivity and addiction, and it is the reason immediate consequences beat delayed ones in habit change. Self-control and delay discounting ›

Deprivation

Going without a reinforcer for a period, which increases its effectiveness and increases behavior that has produced it. Hours without food make food a stronger reinforcer. Deprivation is the classic establishing operation; its opposite is satiation.

Differential reinforcement

Reinforcing one response or response class while withholding reinforcement from others. It is the procedure inside shaping and discrimination training, and the basis of the "DR" family of interventions: DRA (alternative behavior), DRI (incompatible behavior), DRO (other behavior), DRL (low rates, reinforcing only when responding is infrequent), and DRH (high rates). Differential reinforcement in depth ›

Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA)

Reinforcing a desirable alternative to a problem behavior while placing the problem behavior on extinction — reinforcing "may I have a break?" instead of screaming. The most widely used function-based treatment; when the alternative is a communicative response, it is called functional communication training. DRA, DRI, DRO and DRL ›

Differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior (DRI)

A form of DRA in which the reinforced alternative physically cannot occur at the same time as the problem behavior. Sitting is incompatible with running around the room; hands in pockets are incompatible with hitting. DRA, DRI, DRO and DRL ›

Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO)

Delivering a reinforcer when the target behavior has not occurred for a set interval — a token for every five minutes without calling out. Despite the name, it reinforces the absence of a behavior rather than any specific alternative. Also called omission training. DRA, DRI, DRO and DRL ›

Discrete trial training (DTT)

A teaching format in which learning is broken into short, clearly bounded trials: an instruction, a prompt if needed, the response, a consequence, and a brief pause. Associated with early intensive behavioral intervention for autism. Contrast the free operant, in which the learner can respond at any time. ABA methods ›

Discrimination

Responding differently in the presence of different stimuli, the result of reinforcement being available under one stimulus and not another. The rat presses when the light is on and not when it is off; you swear with friends and not with your grandmother. The opposite of generalization. Stimulus control ›

Discriminative stimulus (S^D)

An antecedent stimulus in whose presence a behavior has been reinforced and in whose absence it has not, so that it now raises the probability of the behavior. A ringing phone is an S^D for answering; a green light for driving on. Its counterpart, the S-delta (S^Δ), signals that reinforcement is not available. The discriminative stimulus in depth ›

E

Errorless learning

Discrimination training arranged so the learner rarely or never responds to the wrong stimulus — for example, by introducing the SΔ so faintly and briefly at first that it is never responded to, then fading it in. Terrace (1963) showed it avoids the frustration and side effects of trial-and-error discrimination; it underlies prompting and fading in applied work. Stimulus control ›

Escape

Behavior that terminates an aversive stimulus already present, maintained by negative reinforcement: taking an aspirin for a headache, leaving a loud room, handing a screaming child the candy. Contrast avoidance, which prevents the aversive stimulus from starting. Escape, on the avoidance page ›

Establishing operation (EO)

A motivating operation that temporarily increases the effectiveness of a reinforcer and increases the current frequency of behavior that has produced it. Food deprivation is the classic example; so are thirst, cold, and pain. The term was introduced by Jack Michael in 1982. Motivating operations ›

Extinction

The procedure of no longer reinforcing a previously reinforced behavior, and the resulting decline in that behavior. Extinction is not one of the four quadrants: nothing is added or removed, the consequence that used to arrive simply stops. Extinguished behavior can return through spontaneous recovery, renewal, and resurgence. Extinction in depth ›

Extinction burst

A temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, or variability of a behavior when its reinforcer is first withheld, before the behavior declines. Pressing the elevator button harder and faster when it fails to respond. Giving in during the burst reinforces the more intense version of the behavior. What is an extinction burst? ›

F

Fading

Gradually removing prompts, or gradually changing a stimulus, so that the behavior comes under the control of the natural antecedent. Full physical guidance is faded to a light touch, then a gesture, then the spoken instruction alone. Prompting and fading ›

Fixed interval (FI)

A schedule in which the first response after a fixed period of time is reinforced (FI 60 s: the first press after a minute has elapsed). Produces the FI scallop: a pause after each reinforcer, then accelerating responding as the interval ends. Fixed interval schedules in depth ›

Fixed ratio (FR)

A schedule in which reinforcement follows a set number of responses (FR 10: every tenth response). Produces a high, steady "break-and-run" rate with a post-reinforcement pause. Piecework pay and "buy ten, get one free" are fixed-ratio schedules. Fixed ratio schedules in depth ›

Free operant

A procedure in which the organism can respond at any time and at any rate — the lever in the operant chamber is always available — so that rate of responding becomes the primary measure. Skinner's central methodological innovation, in contrast to discrete-trial procedures such as mazes and puzzle boxes, where the experimenter starts each trial.

Function of behavior

What a behavior accomplishes for the organism: the reinforcer that maintains it. Functional assessment sorts problem behavior into four common functions — attention, escape or avoidance, access to tangibles, and automatic reinforcement — and treatment is matched to the function, not to what the behavior looks like.

Functional analysis

An experimental method for identifying the function of a behavior by systematically arranging conditions — attention, demand, alone, and a play control — and measuring which one produces the most behavior. Developed by Brian Iwata and colleagues (1982, reprinted 1994), it is the gold standard of assessment in applied behavior analysis. ABA in practice ›

Functional behavior assessment (FBA)

The broader process of identifying the antecedents and consequences maintaining a behavior, through interviews, rating scales, direct A-B-C observation and, when needed, a functional analysis. Widely required in schools before a behavior intervention plan is written. A-B-C observation ›

G

Generalization

The spread of a learned behavior beyond the conditions in which it was trained. Stimulus generalization: responding to stimuli similar to the training stimulus. Response generalization: untrained but related responses also change. Generalization across settings, people, and time is a central goal of applied work (Stokes & Baer, 1977). The opposite of discrimination.

Generalization gradient

The curve relating response strength to how similar a test stimulus is to the training stimulus. A pigeon reinforced for pecking a 550 nm light pecks less and less as the color moves away from 550 nm (Guttman & Kalish, 1956). A steep gradient means sharp discrimination; a flat one means broad generalization.

Generalized reinforcer

A conditioned reinforcer that has been paired with many different reinforcers — money, tokens, social approval — so that it works regardless of any single deprivation state. Generalized reinforcers are why token economies work. Generalized reinforcers in depth ›

H

Habit

In behavioral terms, a well-practiced operant under tight stimulus control, emitted with little deliberation when its cue appears. Habits are built by pairing a stable antecedent with a small behavior and an immediate consequence, and they persist because of intermittent reinforcement and behavioral momentum. In the neuroscience literature a habit is behavior that continues even after its outcome has lost value. Building habits with operant conditioning ›

Habituation

The decline in responding to a stimulus that is simply repeated — you stop noticing the ticking clock. It is a form of non-associative learning and involves no consequences, so it is not operant conditioning. Distinct from extinction, which requires a history of reinforcement, and from satiation.

I

Incentive salience

The "wanting" that the brain's dopamine system attaches to reinforcers and to the cues that predict them, making them attention-grabbing and worth working for. Berridge and Robinson showed it is separate from "liking": animals without dopamine still enjoy sugar but will not seek it. The neuroscience of operant conditioning ›

Instinctive drift

The tendency of a trained behavior to drift toward the species-typical behavior the reinforcer naturally evokes, even at the cost of reinforcement. Keller and Marian Breland's raccoons, taught to drop coins in a box for food, began rubbing the coins together and refusing to let go — food-washing intruding on a trained response. Reported in "The misbehavior of organisms" (1961), it showed that reinforcement works within biological limits. The Brelands in the history of the field ›

Instrumental conditioning

The older term, from the Thorndike tradition, for what Skinner called operant conditioning: learning in which behavior is "instrumental" in producing an outcome. Some authors reserve "instrumental" for discrete-trial procedures such as mazes and puzzle boxes and "operant" for free-operant ones; in most modern usage the terms are interchangeable. From Thorndike to Skinner ›

Intermittent reinforcement

Any schedule in which only some occurrences of a behavior are reinforced — the fixed and variable ratio and interval schedules and their many variants. Also called partial reinforcement. Behavior on intermittent schedules is markedly more resistant to extinction than behavior on continuous reinforcement, the partial reinforcement extinction effect. Continuous vs. intermittent reinforcement ›

Interval schedule

A schedule in which reinforcement depends on the passage of time: the first response after an interval — fixed or variable — is reinforced. Responding faster does not bring reinforcement sooner, so interval schedules produce lower rates than ratio schedules. Interval vs. ratio schedules ›

L

Law of effect

Edward Thorndike's principle, from his puzzle-box experiments with cats (1898; stated in full in 1911): responses followed by satisfaction are "stamped in" and become more likely, while responses followed by discomfort are "stamped out." The direct ancestor of reinforcement and punishment. The law of effect in depth ›

Learned helplessness

The finding, first reported by Seligman and Maier in 1967, that animals exposed to inescapable aversive events later fail to escape even when escape becomes possible — as if they had learned that responding and outcomes are unrelated. Fifty years on, the same authors reframed it: passivity is the default response to prolonged aversive events, and what is learned is control. Learned helplessness in depth ›

Learned industriousness

Eisenberger's (1992) finding that reinforcing high effort in one task increases effort in unrelated tasks: the sensation of effort itself acquires conditioned reinforcing value. The counterpart of learned helplessness, and one reason to reinforce trying rather than only succeeding.

M

Matching law

Richard Herrnstein's 1961 finding that when two responses are available, the relative rate of each matches the relative rate of reinforcement it produces: pigeons on two keys distribute their pecks in proportion to the reinforcers each key delivers. It explains choice, and why a problem behavior persists when it is reinforced more richly than its alternative. The matching law in depth ›

Motivating operation (MO)

An environmental variable that (1) alters the effectiveness of a stimulus as a reinforcer or punisher and (2) alters the current frequency of behavior that has produced that stimulus. Establishing operations increase both; abolishing operations decrease both. The concept was developed by Jack Michael. Motivating operations ›

N

Near miss

A losing outcome that resembles a win — two cherries and a lemon on a slot machine. Near misses increase the urge to keep playing and recruit some of the same brain circuitry as wins, which is why machines are designed to produce them more often than chance would. Gambling and games ›

Negative punishment

The process in which a behavior is followed by the removal of a stimulus and decreases in future frequency as a result. Time-out, response cost, and losing privileges are the standard forms. "Negative" means removed, not bad. Negative punishment in depth ›

Negative reinforcement

The process in which a behavior is followed by the removal (or avoidance) of a stimulus and increases in future frequency as a result. Buckling up to silence the chime; taking a painkiller to end a headache. It is not punishment: the behavior goes up. Negative reinforcement in depth ›

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR)

Delivering a reinforcer on a time-based schedule regardless of behavior, so the behavior no longer has to occur to obtain it. Used as a treatment for attention-maintained behavior — attention is given freely every few minutes — it breaks the contingency and acts as an abolishing operation for the reinforcer. Because no behavior is being strengthened, some analysts argue the procedure should not be called "reinforcement" at all (Poling & Normand, 1999).

O

Operant

A class of responses defined by its effect on the environment rather than by its form: "lever-pressing" includes pressing with the left paw, the right paw, or the nose. As an adjective, behavior that is emitted by the organism and controlled by its consequences. Skinner introduced the term in 1937. Skinner's concept of the operant ›

Operant conditioning

Learning in which the future probability of a behavior is changed by the consequences that follow it: behaviors followed by reinforcement become more likely, behaviors followed by punishment less likely. Also called instrumental conditioning. The complete guide to operant conditioning ›

Operant conditioning chamber (Skinner box)

Skinner's apparatus for studying free-operant behavior: an enclosed space with a manipulandum (a lever or key), a device for delivering reinforcers (a food hopper or water dipper), optional stimuli such as lights and tones, and automatic recording. "Skinner box" was never Skinner's own term. The Skinner box, part by part ›

Operant hoarding

Letting earned reinforcers accumulate instead of consuming each one immediately. Cole (1990) found that rats on a schedule in which collecting pellets triggered a pause in reinforcement learned to let pellets pile up and collect them in batches — a form of self-control that simple impulsivity accounts do not predict. Choice and self-control ›

Operant variability

Variability in behavior treated as a dimension that reinforcement controls. Page and Neuringer (1985) reinforced pigeons only for response sequences that differed from recent ones, and the birds became more variable; reinforcing repetition makes behavior stereotyped. New behavior in shaping comes from this variability. Shaping ›

Overcorrection

A positive punishment procedure developed by Richard Foxx and Nathan Azrin with two forms: restitution (repairing the environment beyond its original state — cleaning the whole table, not just the spill) and positive practice (repeatedly performing the correct form of the behavior). Reprimands and overcorrection ›

P

Partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE)

The finding that behavior reinforced intermittently is more resistant to extinction than behavior reinforced every time, first demonstrated systematically by Lloyd Humphreys in 1939. Paradoxically, less reinforcement produces more persistence. The partial reinforcement extinction effect ›

Pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT)

The increase in the rate of an operant behavior when a separately trained Pavlovian cue for the same or a similar reinforcer is presented — a rat presses faster for food while a tone that predicts food plays, although the tone was never part of the lever-press contingency. First reported by Estes in 1948; a laboratory model of how drug and food cues energize seeking. How the two kinds of learning interact ›

Peak shift

After discrimination training between an SD and a similar SΔ, the peak of the generalization gradient moves away from the SΔ: pigeons reinforced at 550 nm and extinguished at 555 nm respond most at about 540 nm (Hanson, 1959). Evidence that the SΔ carries an inhibitory gradient of its own.

Positive punishment

The process in which a behavior is followed by the addition of a stimulus and decreases in future frequency as a result. A burn after touching the stove; a reprimand after an interruption, if interruptions then decrease. "Positive" means added, not good. Positive punishment in depth ›

Positive reinforcement

The process in which a behavior is followed by the addition of a stimulus and increases in future frequency as a result. A treat after a sit; praise after a chore; a like after a post. The most-used procedure in the field. Positive reinforcement in depth ›

Post-reinforcement pause

The pause in responding that follows each reinforcer on fixed schedules (FR and FI). Its length grows with the size of the ratio or interval — the larger the requirement, the longer the break before the organism starts the next run. The post-reinforcement pause ›

Premack principle

David Premack's 1959 principle that a higher-probability behavior can reinforce a lower-probability behavior when access to it is made contingent: "first homework, then video games." Sometimes called Grandma's rule. The Premack principle in depth ›

Primary reinforcer

A stimulus that reinforces without any learning history because of its biological significance: food, water, warmth, sexual contact, relief from pain. Its effectiveness depends on deprivation. Also called an unconditioned reinforcer. Primary and secondary reinforcers ›

Prompt

A supplementary antecedent stimulus added to evoke a correct response that the natural discriminative stimulus does not yet control: a verbal hint, a gesture, a model, physical guidance, or a highlighted stimulus. Prompts are meant to be faded. Prompting ›

Prompt hierarchy

An ordered set of prompts from least to most intrusive, used systematically in teaching. Least-to-most prompting waits for an independent response, then escalates — verbal, gestural, model, physical. Most-to-least begins with full guidance and fades it as the learner succeeds.

Punisher

A stimulus change that, when it follows a behavior, decreases the future frequency of that behavior. Defined entirely by effect: a consequence that fails to decrease the behavior is not a punisher, however unpleasant it looks.

Punishment

The process in which a behavior is followed by a stimulus change — the addition of a stimulus (positive punishment) or the removal of one (negative punishment) — and decreases in future frequency as a result. Punishment is defined by the decrease, not by intent or severity. Punishment: types, evidence, alternatives ›

R

Radical behaviorism

Skinner's philosophy of the science of behavior: private events such as thoughts and feelings are behavior, subject to the same principles as public behavior, and explanations should be sought in the organism's environmental history rather than in mental causes. "Radical" means thoroughgoing, not extreme. Skinner's radical behaviorism ›

Rate of response

Responses per unit of time — Skinner's preferred measure of behavior, because it is continuous, sensitive, and reflects the probability of responding. It is read directly from the slope of a cumulative record.

Ratio schedule

A schedule in which reinforcement depends on the number of responses made, fixed or variable. Because faster responding produces reinforcement sooner, ratio schedules generate higher rates than interval schedules. Ratio vs. interval schedules ›

Ratio strain

The breakdown of responding — long pauses, erratic rates, quitting — that occurs when a ratio schedule is thinned too quickly or set too high. The remedy is to lower the requirement and thin more gradually. Ratio strain in depth ›

Reinforcement

The process in which a behavior is followed by a stimulus change — the addition of a stimulus (positive reinforcement) or the removal of one (negative reinforcement) — and increases in future frequency as a result. Reinforcement is defined by the increase, not by whether the consequence seems rewarding. Reinforcement: types, reinforcers, what makes it work ›

Reinforcer

A stimulus change that, when it follows a behavior, increases the future frequency of that behavior. Not a synonym for "reward": a reward is something the giver thinks is nice, while a reinforcer is something that demonstrably strengthens the behavior it follows. What counts as a reinforcer ›

Renewal

The return of an extinguished behavior when the context changes — a behavior extinguished at the clinic reappears at home. Extinction learning is unusually tied to the setting in which it happened, so extinction must be carried out in every context that matters. Renewal ›

Resistance to extinction

How long, and how much, a behavior persists once reinforcement stops. It is increased by intermittent schedules, by a rich history of reinforcement, and by a long history of the behavior paying off. Resistance to extinction ›

Respondent behavior

Behavior elicited by a prior stimulus: reflexes and conditioned reflexes such as salivation, the startle response, the eye-blink, and conditioned fear. Skinner's term, chosen to contrast with operant behavior, which is emitted and controlled by its consequences. Operant vs. respondent ›

Respondent conditioning

Skinner's name for classical conditioning: a neutral stimulus paired with a stimulus that elicits a reflex comes to elicit the reflex itself. Both respondent and operant conditioning show extinction, spontaneous recovery, and renewal. Full comparison ›

Response

A single instance of behavior — one lever press, one spoken word, one glance at the phone. "Response" and "behavior" are used almost interchangeably; operant and response class refer to the group of responses that share a function.

Response class

A group of responses that share a function — the same effect on the environment — even when they look different. All the ways of getting a door open form one response class. This is why suppressing one form of a problem behavior often produces another form with the same function.

Response cost

A negative punishment procedure in which a specified amount of a reinforcer — tokens, points, money, minutes of screen time — is removed contingent on a behavior. Fines, penalties, and losing points are response cost. Response cost ›

Response deprivation hypothesis

Timberlake and Allison's (1974) rule for when one behavior will reinforce another: a contingency works if it restricts the contingent behavior below the level the organism performs when free. It generalizes the Premack principle and explains why a less-preferred activity can sometimes reinforce a more-preferred one. Premack and response deprivation ›

Resurgence

The reappearance of a previously reinforced behavior when a more recently reinforced behavior is placed on extinction. A child taught to ask politely instead of screaming goes back to screaming when polite requests stop being answered. The remedy is to keep the replacement behavior reliably reinforced. Resurgence ›

Reward prediction error

The difference between the reinforcer received and the reinforcer predicted. Midbrain dopamine neurons fire a burst for a positive error, stay quiet for a fully predicted reward, and dip below baseline when an expected reward fails to arrive — the brain's teaching signal for operant learning and the quantity reinforcement-learning algorithms compute. The neuroscience of operant conditioning ›

S

Satiation

The reduced effectiveness of a reinforcer after it has been consumed or contacted in quantity, and the reduced behavior that follows: kibble is a weak reinforcer after dinner. Satiation is an abolishing operation; its opposite is deprivation.

Scallop (fixed-interval scallop)

The curved pattern a fixed-interval schedule leaves on a cumulative record: little responding just after a reinforcer, then a gradual acceleration to a high rate as the interval ends. Students who study little after an exam and cram before the next one trace the same curve. The fixed-interval scallop ›

Schedule of reinforcement

The rule specifying which occurrences of a behavior will be reinforced: continuous, fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval, and many compound schedules built from them. Ferster and Skinner catalogued their effects in Schedules of Reinforcement (1957). Schedules of reinforcement, with a simulator ›

Secondary reinforcer

Another name for a conditioned reinforcer: a stimulus that acquired its reinforcing power through pairing with other reinforcers, such as money, praise, or a clicker's sound. Primary and secondary reinforcers ›

Self-management

Applying the principles of behavior to one's own behavior: arranging antecedents, defining small target behaviors, self-monitoring, and delivering one's own consequences. Skinner devoted a chapter of Science and Human Behavior (1953) to it, and it is the basis of evidence-based habit change. Self-management and habits ›

Setting event

A broader condition, often distant in time, that alters how an antecedent–behavior–consequence relation plays out: poor sleep, illness, hunger, an argument earlier in the morning. Closely related to, and often treated as a kind of, motivating operation. Antecedents and setting events ›

Shaping

Building a new behavior by reinforcing successive approximations toward it while withholding reinforcement from earlier approximations. Skinner used it to teach pigeons to play ping-pong; trainers use it to teach a dog to spin; speech therapists use it to build words from sounds. How shaping works ›

Sidman avoidance (free-operant avoidance)

Avoidance without a warning signal: shocks arrive on a timer unless the organism responds, and each response postpones the next shock for a set interval. Introduced by Murray Sidman in 1953; rats learn a steady response rate that keeps shocks rare. Avoidance learning ›

Spontaneous recovery

The reappearance of an extinguished behavior after a period away from the extinction setting, usually weaker than before and weaker with each recurrence if reinforcement is still withheld. First described by Pavlov for conditioned reflexes; it occurs just as reliably for operant behavior. Spontaneous recovery ›

Stimulus

Any event or energy change in the environment that can affect behavior: a sound, a light, a word, a touch, a food pellet. Stimuli that precede behavior are antecedents; stimuli that follow it are consequences.

Stimulus control

The condition in which a behavior occurs reliably in the presence of a particular stimulus and less often in its absence, established by discrimination training. Strong stimulus control is what makes a habit feel automatic and makes changing the cue an easier route to change than willpower. Stimulus control in depth ›

Successive approximations

The series of increasingly close versions of a target behavior that are reinforced, one after another, during shaping: any movement toward the lever, then touching it, then pressing it. Shaping step by step ›

Superstitious behavior

Behavior maintained by accidental reinforcement — a consequence that happened to follow the behavior without depending on it. In Skinner's 1948 experiment, pigeons fed at regular intervals regardless of what they did developed rituals such as turning and head-bobbing. Lucky socks work the same way. Superstitious behavior in depth ›

T

Target behavior

The specific, observable, measurable behavior chosen for change in an intervention — "raises hand before speaking," not "is respectful." A good target behavior passes the dead man's test and can be counted.

Task analysis

Breaking a complex skill into its component steps, in order, as the basis for chaining. Hand-washing becomes eight discrete steps; each is taught and reinforced until the whole chain runs on its own. Task analysis and chaining ›

Three-term contingency

Skinner's basic unit of analysis: a discriminative stimulus sets the occasion, a response occurs, and a consequence follows. Written A → B → C, it is the same thing as the ABC model and the frame behind every entry in this glossary. The three-term contingency ›

Time-out

Short for time-out from positive reinforcement: a negative punishment procedure in which access to reinforcement is removed for a brief period, contingent on a behavior. It works only when the "time-in" environment is actually reinforcing; a child sent from a hard lesson to a comfortable hallway has been negatively reinforced, not punished. Time-out done correctly ›

Token economy

A system in which tokens — points, stars, chips — are delivered contingent on target behaviors and later exchanged for backup reinforcers. Tokens are generalized conditioned reinforcers. Ayllon and Azrin's 1968 program on a psychiatric ward is the founding example. Token economies in depth ›

Topography

The physical form of a behavior — what it looks like — as distinct from its function. A raised hand and a wave have similar topography and different functions; hitting and kicking have different topographies and may share one function.

Two-factor theory of avoidance

Mowrer's account of avoidance learning: a warning signal is first classically conditioned to elicit fear, then the avoidance response is operantly reinforced by escape from that fear. It explains why avoidance is so persistent — the animal never stays to learn the shock has stopped — but struggles with unsignaled avoidance and with the calm of well-trained avoiders. Avoidance learning ›

U

Unconditioned reinforcer

Another name for a primary reinforcer: a stimulus such as food, water, or warmth that reinforces without any prior learning. Contrast conditioned reinforcer. Primary and secondary reinforcers ›

V

Variable interval (VI)

A schedule in which the first response after an unpredictable interval, averaging some value, is reinforced (VI 60 s: intervals that average a minute). Produces a moderate, steady rate. Checking email is the everyday example: messages arrive on their own schedule, and the first check afterward is the one that pays off. Variable interval schedules in depth ›

Variable ratio (VR)

A schedule in which reinforcement follows an unpredictable number of responses, averaging some value (VR 10). Produces the highest, steadiest rate of any simple schedule and the greatest resistance to extinction — the schedule behind slot machines and infinite scroll. Variable ratio schedules in depth ›

Verbal behavior

Skinner's 1957 analysis of language as operant behavior reinforced through the mediation of other people. It classifies verbal operants by function — the mand (request), tact (label), echoic (repetition), and intraverbal (reply to someone else's words), among others — and underlies most language programs in applied behavior analysis. Noam Chomsky's 1959 review of the book became a founding document of cognitive psychology. Verbal Behavior and its critics ›

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