What is reinforcement?

Reinforcement is essentially a positive or negative consequence following a behaviour that will increase the future likelihood of that behaviour occurring again. When you reinforce your child’s behaviour you do it by adding or removing something after your child’s behaviour to increase the likelihood of them doing that exact behaviour again

Whether we realize it or not our behaviours are constantly impacted by reinforcement. It’s why we do what we do. We tell a joke to hear the laughter that follows it or we post something on social media to see who will like or share what we’ve posted. At its core reinforcement is motivation.

There are both internal and external reinforcers. Internal motivation comes from within. It’s the pride we feel when we accomplish a goal or when we know we’ve done something for the greater good. It’s also the desire to avoid the shame we can feel if we act inappropriately, if we smelled bad because of poor hygiene or if we offended someone. For most of us internal motivation is enough to behave appropriately.

What do we do when a person lacks “internal motivation”?

Sometimes a person with autism spectrum disorder or an intellectual disability may have difficulty using internal motivation to drive their behaviour. In these cases a more literal motivation is needed and this is where external reinforcement is extremely helpful.

Below are some helpful tips on how to use reinforcement, different reinforcers you can use to influence behaviour and answers to common questions about reinforcement.

Positive Reinforcement:

Presenting something positive/desirable/pleasant to the person after the behaviour is exhibited, making the behaviour more likely to happen in the future.

For example: Your child cleaned his/her bedroom so you praise them and reward them with a sticker. In the future, your child is now more likely to clean up his/her bedroom. Another example could include receiving praise from your family/friends for cooking a delicious meal so you want to cook more often.

Negative Reinforcement:

Negative reinforcement occurs when a certain aversive condition is removed/avoided after exhibiting a particular behaviour.

For example: An escape would be putting on your seatbelt to remove the annoying sound of the seatbelt alarm/alert while an example of avoidance would be immediately putting on your seatbelt before the seatbelt alarm/alert reminds you to do so.

How to use Reinforcement Strategies

Remember that reinforcers vary from person to person. Something that is reinforcing to one person might not be reinforcing to another; it depends on that individual’s interests and preferences. Reinforcers for one individual are not the same over time. The effectiveness of a reinforcer depends on the individual’s current motivation to get access to it.

For example: If an individual just ate a meal, motivation for food may be lower. Also, if an individual hasn’t had access to a favourite video game all day while at school, motivation to access the game may be higher right after school.

Ensure that an item or activity is actually reinforcing to an individual. Remember it is only a reinforcer if it increases the future frequency of a behaviour. Some items/activities may be highly preferred to an individual, but they still might not function as reinforcers.
Immediacy: The reinforcer must be delivered as quickly as possible following an occurrence of the behaviour. The longer the amount of time lapses between the behaviour and getting the reinforcer, the less valuable the reinforcer will be.
Contingency: Reinforcement delivery must be contingent on the behaviour occurring. It should only be provided when the desired behaviour is observed, and NOT when the behaviour does not occur.
Reinforcer Sampling: Sometimes allowing an individual to engage with an item or activity for a short period of time will increase his/her motivation to access it. This could be helpful if it is difficult to find preferred items/activities that function as reinforcers. This is similar to what happens when you watch a movie trailer. Prior to seeing the trailer you likely had little interest in watching the movie, but after viewing the trailer, your interest and motivation to watch the full movie increases. This then increases behaviours that will allow you to see the movie – checking when it is playing, driving to the theatre, etc.

For example: Allowing an individual to have a small piece of a favourite snack might increase their motivation for more. Accessing more of the treatment may then be contingent on specific desired behaviour occurring

Types of reinforcement

Edible - treats or favourite snacks
Tangible - toys, crafts, movies
Activities - sports, games, iPad or computer time
Social - high fives, fist pump, hugs or eye-contact
Sensory - squeezes, exercise balls, tickle

Looking for ways more ways to reinforce behaviour and what to use to motivate your child? Check out this helpful tip sheet.

Isn’t reinforcement just bribery?

Positive Reinforcement

Bribery

A helpful example: The majority of people go to work every day to receive a pay cheque for the work they have done. Although there may be other factors influencing them to show up to work each day (e.g. enjoying their job), a lot of people would not continue doing their same job or working as many hours if they didn’t receive that pay cheque. This is a perfect example of reinforcement occurring in society. No one would suggest that your work is bribing you.

Reinforcement affects everyone, everyday – see if you can think of times where it affects your own behaviour.

Diagram, positive reinforcement is thoughtful on purpose and bribery happens in the moment and regretted later.

Differential reinforcement

Differential reinforcement involves increasing the reinforcement as much as possible for a desired alternate behaviour, and reducing the reinforcement as much as possible for the undesired problem behaviour. If an individual has two possible responses (a problem behaviour and an appropriate alternative) to access some reinforcer, he/she is more likely to engage in the behaviour which most often results in that reinforcer. A number of factors can influence how effective a reinforcer is: