Establishing & Choosing

Reinforcers

April 2020
Abi and Maria
 Reinforcers
“Anything that increases
the likelihood a behavior
will occur in the future”

So, if you wish to see a

behavior increase in its
frequency select a great
reward.
Reinforcers should be
Constantly developed

Varied: to remain powerful and effective

 Activity 1
What kind of reinforcers would YOU work
for? What's your preference?

(No need to write it down on activity sheet,

just think about it.)
 Activity 2
Analyze your behaviour and interaction with
the environment as you go about your day.
Find the everyday reinforcers that keep you
going. Make a list of 4 on your activitiy
sheet, similar to the examples on the next
slide
 What is Reinforcement =
available to My response what makes me
me/around me respond again

Bad taste in my
Fresh breath,
mouth in the Brushing teeth
morning no dentist

Available
Food is on its
online delivery Book it quickly
slot way

Sunny outside,
I look out of What a nice
blossoming
tree window sight!

I give her a My child

My child is
home learning enjoys it so I
bored at home
activity feel happy
 Aim
►We often need to use specific reinforcers for the
learners we work with because we cannot assume
that any individual will be motivated by things that
typically motivate others (such as praise, imitating
peers and task completion )
Aim
►Our ultimate aim is to move towards the use of
naturally occurring reinforcers such as task
completion, praise, school/ society based systems of
rewards
 Reinforcer types
watch video on link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4xovZgIkMw&t=28s

Click to add text

 Reinforcer types
Note:
Tokens and “well done” are secondary reinforcers – a
baby wouldn’t care for them.

If you want to use these as reinforcers with the learners

you work with, you need to teach them their value by
pairing them with existing reinforcers.

E.g. say “well done” and/or give a token immediately

before giving a piece of crisps they’ve been working for.
This way they learn that a token and “well done” mean
that something enjoyable is coming soon.
 Activity 3
On your activity sheet, make a list of reinforcers that
you usually use with your key child.
Reflect:
► Would these items/activities be typically motivating
for their neurotypical peers (people without ASD or
learning disability who are around the same age)?
► Would these be available to them in a mainstream
setting?
► Will these be available to them when they grow up
and leave TreeHouse?
It is important to sample reinforcers across a variety of
different sensory modalities. There are 6 main sensory
modalities to consider:
1. Gustatory – popcorn, pineapple
2. Tactile – hugs, tickle
3. Auditory – music, singing
4. Vestibular – rocking, swinging
5. Olfactory – perfume, scented pens
6. Visual – light, different colours
 Activity 4
Take your list of reinforcers for your key
child and categorize the items based on the
modalities described on the previous slide.

Reflect:
How many modalities has your key child got
reinforcers in?
Compare: How many modalities have you
got reinforcers in?
Establishing and Choosing
Reinforcers

Why is it important to establish

new reinforcers continuously?
 Why is it important to establish
new reinforcers continuously?
►I changed my mind!
– A learner’s interest can be transient

►I’m bored!
– To keep the learner motivated

►I’ve had enough of this computer game!

– Satiation may come into play
►Preferences shift
– This may not always be obvious since people
may often interact with the items/activities
even when these are not actually functioning
as reinforcers
– So, review reinforcers regularly, especially
when learner is unsuccessful
►Preference assessments may change with the
person’s age, interest level, time of day, social
interactions with peers, and satiation/
deprivation.
 Establishing and Choosing
Reinforcers
►Why is it important to maintain the value
of reinforcers?
– Interventions would fail without effective
reinforcers.
– Reinforcers that are available at other times
than when the learner gives a required
response will become less
effective/motivating
 Establishing and Choosing
Reinforcers
Primary reinforcers are most often used during the
early stages of interventions. However, it is
important that these are faded out as soon as
possible because:
►There are ethical implications of using primary
reinforcers - we need to use them in moderation,
e.g. sweets
►They may not be available in other settings, e.g.
home, in the community, next school or residential
setting
 Primary reinforcers
Advantages
►Do not depend on prior learning
►Can be very powerful

Disadvantages
►Can be difficult to fade out
►Use may seem strange in some environments to
other professionals, family members, or the
general public
 Secondary reinforcers
►It is important to establish secondary
reinforcers as a step towards more naturally
occurring reinforcement contingencies
►It is important to pair yourself with reinforcers
►The learner comes to associate a teaching
session with activities that are of interest to
them, and your praise/ social attention/
activities become secondary reinforcers
 Pairing Reinforcers

►In cases where the typical conditioned

(secondary) reinforcers are not effective, it may
be necessary to turn to primary reinforcers or
conditioned reinforcers not commonly used in a
given situation.
►These reinforcers can then be paired with more
common reinforcers such as praise, attention,
smiles, privileges, etc. until the latter become
reinforcing.
►How do you pair established reinforcers with
new stimuli to increase the range of reinforcers?

– Deliver at the same time, or one after the other

►Pairing can also refer to the process of

establishing yourself as a conditioned reinforcer
 Pairing yourself
Identify a variety of reinforcers

Deliver reinforcers on a non-contingent basis (i.e. not dependent

on a specified response).

Make sure that what you have is more desirable than what is
freely accessible in the environment

Set up opportunities for the learner to approach you.

Avoid demand unless required e.g. for safety

 (cont’d)
►Use reinforcers that can be delivered in small
amounts and multiple times.
►Use reinforcers that can be controlled by you.
►Once established through pairing the initial
reinforcer can be faded out.
►Teach the child that learning is fun!
►Teach the child that when you are present they
get to access lots of enjoyable, fun things!
 Pairing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdUe8g8tjg4
Identifying potential
reinforcers
 Methods

1. Ask

2. Observe

3. Test (trial based)

 1. Ask

►The person

►Significant others

►Choice before task

 1a. Asking the person about
their preference
► Asking the Target Person
1. Open ended questions
– What do you like to do at the weekend?
2. Choice Format
– Do you prefer reading or dancing?
3. Rank Ordering
– Put these in order from most to least preferred
– Surveys are commonly used. These are lists of items and the client can
identify if the items are high, medium, or low preference.
• Some people find it hard to say what they want at the time. Research
indicates that surveys are a good starting point (Northup, 2000).
• However, although easy to use, surveys may not always predict what is
going to serve as reinforcers – these need to then be assessed.

► Pictures can be used to help prompt the learner where necessary.

 1b. Asking significant others
►A list of potential reinforcers can be obtained by
asking parents, siblings, teachers or caregivers
to identify what they believe are the activities,
items, foods, hobbies or toys that the learner
prefers.
►The Reinforcer Assessment for Individuals with
Severe Disabilities (RAISD) is an interview
protocol that asks caregivers to identify preferred
stimuli across different domains such as visual,
auditory, edible and tactile (Fisher et al, 1996).
 Sample Interview Questions
►What are your child’s favourite toys?
►Does your child have any themed toys s/he
likes?
►What does your child like to do when s/he has
free time at home/ school?
►Does you child like art activities?

Refer to the Reinforcer Assessment for

Individuals with Severe Disabilities (RAISD)
provided.
 1c. Choice before task

►Learners are asked to choose before a task.

►A learner’s choice may not necessarily be a

more effective reinforcer than one selected by
the researcher (Smith, Iwata, & Shore, 1995).
– How might you tell? By testing if the learner starts to
respond more when you give their choice to them for
responding.
 2. Observe and record
►Activities that learners engage in during
their free time may be used as reinforcers
because they are likely to be preferred
activities.
– Such activities may include aspects of
stereotypic / repetitive behaviour
►The more time a person spends in an
activity the more reinforcing it is likely to
be.
 2. Observe and record
► Premack Principle
– The activities people engage in most often when able to choose
freely may function as reinforcers for low preference tasks.
– Whichever of two things an individual does more often when
given a choice can often be used as a reinforcer for the other.
– The total duration a person engages in an activity is recorded.
– AKA ‘Grandma’s Law’
• “You can watch TV after you’ve finished your homework”
• “After you eat your dinner you can then have dessert”
– Choose things that are possible to achieve.
► Ethical considerations
– Can you withhold things people have a right to, e.g. their lunch?
 Naturalistic vs contrived
observation
►Naturalistic observations are conducted in the
learner’s everyday environment.
►The observation is contrived when the
practitioner sets up the environment with a
variety of items that may be of interest to the
learner.
►The practitioner plants these items in the
environment along with low preference items.
 Activity 5
Picture your key child as he/she goes about their
day in school. If you give her/him free time what
does s/he do? What items and activities does s/he
seemed to be drawn to? What sensations does
s/he seek out? What does s/he come to you to
request for? What challenging behaviours would
they engage in (these behaviours often fulfil a
need and/or have a communicative function.)
Make a list on your activity sheet.
 3. Trial Based Methods
►Stimuli presented in series of trials and
responses are measured and rank ordered.

►A learner’s response to the item is

measured by approach, contact or
engagement.
 3. Trial Based Methods
► Four types:
a. Single Stimulus
b. Paired Stimuli
c. Multiple Stimuli with Replacement
d. Multiple Stimuli without Replacement
 Single stimulus
The teacher places a single
item in front of the child and
allows the child to approach it
and engage with it. After the
child finishes playing with the
toy, the teacher removes the
toy (if applicable) and presents
another item. Each time the
teacher presents one item, this
is known as one trial.
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=ClZh0kCKfgw
 Paired stimulus
A Paired Stimulus Preference
Assessment allows a teacher to create
a hierarchy of the child’s preferences.
The teacher presents two items each
trial and asks the child to make a
choice. Various stimuli can be utilized as
choices in the preference assessment
including tangibles, opportunities for
attention, and preferred activities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnBraS9
rmz4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWXUct
3wVmc
Multiple Stimuli with Replacement
(MSWR)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wplA
xqQgI7c
Multiple Stimuli without Replacement (MSWOR)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W9cZ-FDmSQ
 Activity 6

Choose one of the trial based methods (single

stimulus / paired stimuli / MSWR / MSWOR) and
list 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages on your
activity sheet.
 Any Questions?
Email Abi Siklaki or Maria
Canga