Why is it so difficult to maintain conditioned reinforcers. matters because it changes what a BCBA notices when decisions have to hold up in case conceptualization, intervention design, staff training, and literature-informed problem solving.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Texas Association for Behavior Analysis
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Join Free →Applied behavior analysts spend considerable time and effort developing new conditioned reinforcers for their learners. Their aim is to establish praise, specific sounds, or gestures as conditioned reinforcers that can be used to maintain behavior and substitute for an unconditioned reinforcer. Common methods for creating conditioned reinforcers include pairing, operant discrimination training, and even observational learning. In many of these procedures, the conditioned reinforcer is built independently of the context or task in which it will be used. Later, the behavior analyst uses the conditioned reinforcer as a substitute for an unconditioned reinforcer. However, creating new conditioned reinforcers is not always a straightforward process, and, in some cases, behavior analysts have difficulty maintaining conditioned reinforcers or generalizing them to new contexts. This presentation will show research that has examined different ways to maintain behavior using conditioned reinforcers. One key piece of the puzzle that may be missing is that many procedures for building conditioned reinforcers focus on the reinforcing properties of a conditioned reinforcer and ignore the discriminative properties of conditioned reinforcers. Recommendations will be given for how to establish durable conditioned reinforcers by focusing on the discriminative properties of the conditioned reinforcer.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | General |
| COA | 1 | — |
Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz is an associate professor in the Behavior Analysis Department at the University of North Texas, where he has worked since 1994. In 1995, he received his Ph.D. in Experimental Child Psychology from the University of Kansas, where he studied under Dr. Donald M. Baer and Dr. Ogden R. Lindsley. Since 2020, he has served as the director of the Beatrice H. Barrett Behavior Analytic Neuroscience Initiative at the University of North Texas. Among his many significant contributions to behavior analysis is the behavioral development cusp, introduced in 1996 together with Dr. Baer. This groundbreaking work provides a behavior analytic account of the rapid changes that are often considered developmental and offers practitioners guidance when selecting target behaviors. Additionally, Dr. Rosales-Ruiz has been at the forefront of bringing the science of behavior to the growing field of human-animal interactions. His work on functional analysis and shaping has helped bridge the gap between academia and applied animal training. He is also the co-creator of PORTL, the Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab, a tabletop game which allows students and practitioners to experience behavioral principles and practice their teaching skills. Dr. Rosales-Ruiz is a fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International and of the Eastern Psychological Association.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
256 research articles with practitioner takeaways
252 research articles with practitioner takeaways
239 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.