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forms of aversive conditioning, but negative reinforcement takes away aversive stimuli—you get rid of something you don’t want. By putting on your seat belt, an obnoxious buzzing noise is ended. You quickly learn to put your seat belt on when you hear the buzz. There are two types of negative reinforcement—avoidance and escape. Avoidance behavior takes away the aversive stimulus before it begins. A dog jumps over a hurdle to avoid an electric shock, for example. Escape behavior takes away the aversive stimulus after it has already started. The dog gets shocked first and then he escapes it by jumping over the hurdle. Learned helplessness is the feeling of futility and passive resignation that results from the inability to avoid repeated aversive events. If it then becomes possible to avoid or escape the aversive stimuli, it is unlikely that the learner will respond. Sometimes in contrast to negative reinforcement, punishment comes as the result of your emitting a behavior that is followed by aversive consequences. You get something you don’t want. By partying instead of studying before a test, you get a bad grade. That grade could result in failing a course. You learn to stop doing behaviors that bring about punishment, but learn to continue behaviors that are negatively reinforced.

Reinforcers

A primary reinforcer is something that is biologically important and, thus, rewarding. Food and drink are examples of primary reinforcers. A secondary reinforcer is something neutral that, when associated with a primary reinforcer, becomes rewarding. Gold stars, points, money, and tokens are all examples of secondary reinforcers. A generalized reinforcer is a secondary reinforcer that can be associated with a number of different primary reinforcers. Money is probably the best example because you can get tired of one primary reinforcer like candy, but money can be exchanged for any type of food, other necessity, entertainment, or luxury item you would like to buy. The operant training system, called a token economy, has been used extensively in institutions such as mental hospitals and jails. Tokens or secondary reinforcers are used to increase a list of acceptable behaviors. After so many tokens have been collected, they can be exchanged for special privileges like snacks, movies, or weekend passes.

Applied behavior analysis, also called behavior modification, is a field that applies the behavioral approach scientifically to solve individual, institutional, and societal problems. Data are gathered both before and after the program is established. For example, training programs have been designed to change employee behavior by reinforcing desired worker behavior, which increases worker motivation.

Teaching a New Behavior

What is the best way to teach and maintain desirable behaviors through operant conditioning? Shaping, positively reinforcing closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior, is an effective way of teaching a new behavior. Each reward comes when the learner gets a bit closer to the final goal behavior. When a little boy is being toilet trained, the child may get rewarded after just saying that he needs to go. The next time he can get rewarded after sitting on the toilet. Eventually, he gets rewarded only after urinating or defecating in the toilet. For a while, reinforcing this behavior every time firmly establishes the behavior. Chaining is used to establish a specific sequence of behaviors by initially positively reinforcing each behavior in a desired sequence, then later rewarding only the completed sequence. Animal trainers at SeaWorld often have porpoises do an amazing series of different behaviors, like swimming the length of a pool, jumping through a hoop, and then honking a horn before they are rewarded with fish. Generally, reinforcement or punishment that occurs immediately after a behavior has a stronger effect than when it is delayed.

Schedules of Reinforcement

A schedule refers to the training program that states how and when reinforcers will be given to the learner. Continuous reinforcement