Deck 5: Increasing Behavior With Conditioned Reinforcement

Question 1

Is money a token? Justify your answer.

Answer 1

Yes, money is a token because it can be accumulated and exchanged for a variety of backup reinforcers (the things that money can buy).

Question 2

Give two examples of stimuli that are conditioned reinforcers but not tokens. Explain why they are conditioned reinforcers, and why they are not tokens.

Answer 2

Any two appropriate examples, such as the following: praise, a call to dinner, the sight of a loved one, or a friendly greeting.These are all associated with more powerful reinforcers, and therefore are conditioned reinforcers.However, they are not tokens because they cannot be accumulated and exchanged for various backup reinforcers.

Question 3

How is conditioned reinforcement involved in influencing babies to babble sounds in their native language, even when no adults are around to reinforce this behavior?

Answer 3

When an infant babbles a sound that has been paired with a positive reinforcer, such as the parent feeding the infant, the sound will reinforce the behavior of the babbling of the sound by the infant.Suppose, for example, that a parent says, "goo-goo-goo" frequently while feeding an infant.Because of the pairing of "goo-goo-goo" with the food reinforcement, the sound "goo-goo-goo" should become a conditioned reinforcer.Later, when the infant is in the crib alone, the infant may say "goo-goo." Because this sound has become a conditioned reinforcer, the infant is likely to repeat that sound.Thus, conditioned reinforcement appears to be involved in strengthening babbling of babies in their native language even when no adults are around to reinforce this behavior.

Question 4

Explain what causes a conditioned reinforcer to lose its value.

Question 5

Explain what a conditioned punisher is. Give and explain two examples.

Question 6

Describe a target behavior of yours that you would like to improve that might be amenable to a points program like Erin's.What would you use as backup reinforcers for the points?

Question 7

What are tokens?

Question 8

Explain in two or three sentences what a token economy is.

Question 9

Distinguish between a simple conditioned reinforcer and a generalized conditioned reinforcer. Explain why a generalized conditioned reinforcer is more effective than a simple conditioned reinforcer.

Question 10

Explain what a backup reinforcer is. Give and explain two examples.

Question 11

Were the points in Erin's program a generalized conditioned reinforcer? Defend your answer.

Question 12

Explain what an unconditioned reinforcer is. Give two examples.

Question 13

Discuss how conditioned reinforcement is involved in an addiction such as to nicotine and in making it difficult for people to quit their addiction.

Question 14

List three factors that influence the effectiveness of conditioned reinforcers.

Question 15

Describe two pitfalls of conditioned reinforcement, and give an example of each.

Question 16

Is praise a generalized conditioned reinforcer? Defend your answer.

Question 17

Explain what a conditioned reinforcer is. Give and explain two examples.

Question 18

What were the backup reinforcers in Erin's program?