Conditioning is a very useful tool that people can use to help instill a specific behavior or action. The easiest mode of Operant conditioning is via the utilization or the usage of positive reinforcement.
Positive Reinforcement is a mode of Operant Conditioning that focuses on the addition of a positive reinforcer to increase the likelihood of the desired behavior or action. This is juxtaposed with negative reinforcement whose primary objective is to remove specific stimuli to increase the likelihood of the student’s desired behavior or action. This is very useful when trying to learn a specific hard or soft skill, or trying to integrate a specific core value.
Positive reinforcement is one of the best ways to sustainably reinforce or motivate a student’s behavior or action. An example of positive reinforcement in the classroom is when a teacher rewards a student with a high score or grade due to their active participation.
Begin by creating a comprehensive list of reinforcers you want to apply and use in your classroom. Having a wide array of reinforcers at your disposal allows you to adapt to the various preferences of your students.
Positive reinforcement requires you to slowly pace out the reinforcers to effectively increase the likelihood of the desired behavior or action. This means that the reinforcers should be applied slowly and incrementally. Track the reactions of your students when you use reinforcers. If the reinforcer is suddenly introduced, it may instead produce the wrong type of association which is one of the negative effects of positive reinforcement.
Each student has their predilection for specific reinforcers, this means they will have their specific responses to the positive reinforcers applied to them. Try to understand and form fit the reinforcers based on the student’s preferences or behavior.
Timing is everything, if the reinforcement schedule is mistimed or mishandled the positive reinforcement will not be as effective. This means you must research and experiment with the timing of your reinforcement. Plan your positive reinforcement based on what you have practiced and researched.
Contingencies of reinforcement are relationships and correlations that should be observed and noted while reinforcing a specific behavior, attitude, and action. There are three contingencies of reinforcement you will need to keep track of during reinforcement. These contingencies are antecedents, behavior or action, and consequences. The antecedents refer to the state or the factors that would lead to the occurrence of the behavior or action. The behavior or action is the observable reaction to the occurrence of the antecedent. While the consequence is the aftereffect or the situation brought about by the action or the behavior. These three are the factors you want to control to be brought about during a reinforcement. This also applies to the juxtaposition of reinforcement called punishment, which tries to minimize the occurrence or frequency of a specific behavior. Operant conditioning will try to operate with the three contingencies of reinforcement to control the observable behavior, and cannot be applied if the behavior did not exists in the first place.
People conduct positive reinforcement through four types of positive reinforcers called: natural reinforcers, social reinforcers, tangible reinforcers, and token reinforcers. Natural reinforcers focus on the positive consequences of the behavior and action and the application of those positive consequences. Social reinforcers focus on the action or behavior’s social consequences that are brought about, this can manifest as the approval for the action of behavior. Tangible reinforcers are physically observable consequences that can come in the form of rewards or a desirable object. Token reinforcers are positive consequences that appear as redeemable tokens; said tokens can be used to obtain various rewards or desirable objects.
People conduct positive reinforcement through four types of positive reinforcers called: natural reinforcers, social reinforcers, tangible reinforcers, and token reinforcers. Natural reinforcers focus on the positive consequences of the behavior and action and the application of those positive consequences. Social reinforcers focus on the action or behavior’s social consequences that are brought about, this can manifest as the approval for the action of behavior. Tangible reinforcers are physically observable consequences that can come in the form of rewards or a desirable object. Token reinforcers are positive consequences that appear as redeemable tokens; said tokens can be used to obtain various rewards or desirable objects.
Positive reinforcement is a mode of operant conditioning that focuses on adding positive reinforcers to increase the likelihood of the desired behavior or action. When done correctly, positive reinforcement can be used on people to help improve their lives.
