7 operant conditioning techniques for change

Change, both in therapy and in everyday life, can be precipitated by very different variations. Our behavior is also the way it is due to a host of more or less relevant variables.: our own personal history, our background, our abilities or the rewards we want to obtain from that behavior (operant conditioning).

First Thorndike, with his differential psychology, followed by Pavlov and his classical conditioning, to arrive at Skinner and his operant conditioningreinforcements and punishments in individual behavior are relevant fields of study for experimental psychology.

From them, and defended by behavioral models, Operant conditioning is postulated as a type of learning in which the person would act based on anticipated consequences, that is, we would talk about the product of a learning story. Today we know that behaviors that are followed by reinforcement are more likely than those that are followed by punishment.

Positive and negative reinforcement: operant conditioning techniques

Based on operant conditioning, there are two types of reinforcement that can follow a behavior:

Positive reinforcement: that reinforcement that add something after the conduct is issued. For example, when a child cleans her room, a parent can give her a bag of candy.negative reinforcement: arises when some stimulus that is aversive to the person is removed. Removing something unpleasant is also reinforcement, and it differs from positive reinforcement in that the first adds something, while the negative reinforcement subtracts something.

Positive and negative punishment in operant conditioning

Unlike reinforcement, which makes a behavior more likely to be repeated if it occurs, punishment achieves the opposite. If this is administered after having issued a behavior, that behavior will be less likely to occur again; In other words, it will tend to become extinct. There are also two types of punishment:

positive punishment: again, the one that adds something. We would talk, for example, about the imposition of a sanction (e.g. voluntary work for the community).negative punishment: one who suppresses or removes something. We would talk, for example, about the withdrawal of a privilege (Ex: driving due to loss of points).

Through reinforcements and punishments, among other things, behavior can be influenced – all parents know this, whether they have studied psychology or not. The way reinforcement is administered, a well-designed stimulation control, its environment, its motivation… are variables that must be taken into account.

However, it is presented a list of techniques derived from these operant conditioning mechanisms that can be useful to modify unwanted or inappropriate behaviors depending on the contexts.

Operant conditioning techniques based on negative punishment

Response cost: Reinforcers are removed when an inappropriate behavior is emitted and are returned when the alternative behavior that we want to be learned occurs. It is important to get several reinforcers at the beginning and avoid negative balance at all costs (that a child does not run out of all his reinforcers and therefore does not care, or that he goes so long without them that they stop functioning as a reinforcement for him).Time out: When the reinforcements in the environment cannot be controlled, and the person continues to receive their reinforcers despite emitting inappropriate behavior, the individual can be removed from the reinforcing environment. If the individual is a child, it is important to allow adequate time away.

Techniques based on positive punishment

Satiation

It consists of providing reinforcers indiscriminately until the individual is satisfied. There are two types of satiation, response and behavior.. The response one works massively with reinforcers, while the behavioral one focuses on the behavior that you want to alter.

An example of response satiation is the massive emission of reinforcers. so that these stop acting as reinforcers of that behavior. One person yells at another to leave him alone. A satisfying response would be to leave him alone for a long time, not just the time he seeks.

Overcorrection

The individual is expected to pay for the consequences of his actions. There is restorative overcorrection, in which, for example, the child has to collect all the toys he has taken out of the box; also the overcorrection of positive practice, in which if the person quitting smoking has tried tobacco, they are told that they have to carry out some action as penance for that cigarette.

Differential reinforcement techniques

They are used when the objective of the reinforcement and punishment program is not the suppression of a behavior, but you want to modify the frequency. We found three non-exclusive techniques that use operant conditioning reinforcement:

Differential reinforcement of low rates: This technique aims to lower the frequency of a behavior, thus it will be reinforced only when it occurs at low rates. If it appears at high rates, the individual will not receive the reinforcer. For example, a girl who asks too many questions in class and raises her hand a lot, not allowing the rest to participate. When the girl raises her hand twenty-five times in a class, she will not receive that reinforcement. However, if the girl raises only ten, she will begin to strengthen herself until she reaches the ideal number.Differential reinforcement of other behaviors: Continuing with the same example, another way to space out the behavior is to reinforce behaviors other than raising your hand. If instead of interrupting class that girl is doing her homework or solving a mathematical operation, these types of different behaviors can be reinforced. The aim is to increase their probability and frequency.Differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors: The aim is to reinforce behaviors that are incompatible to carry out at the same time as the one you want to modify. For example, if a child bites his nails, behaviors such as holding a pen in his hand or hiding his hands in his pockets can be reinforced.

Above all, reinforcement programs must be carried out an appropriate, effective, intelligent and responsible way. The objectives to be achieved must be clear and the action plan too.

Let’s think that in many cases the person will show resistance to complying with the plan we propose, they will want reinforcement regardless of what was agreed. Hence, patience, social skills, subtlety and precision are also necessary to mark the times.

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