 Reinforcement- To give more force or effectiveness to;
strengthen
 Positive Reinforcement- Positive Reinforcement is
“catching” a student doing something you want them to do
and rewarding it.
 Negative Reinforcement- the reinforcing of a response by
giving an aversive stimulus when the response is not made
and omitting the aversive stimulus when the response is
made
 Punishment- suffering, pain, or loss that serves as
retribution resulting from undesired behavior s
Behavior Modification: Using operant conditioning
techniques to change behavior
Operant Conditioning- Theory developed by B.F. Skinner
that based on the idea that organisms will respond to their
environments in certain ways in order to either gain or
avoid particular consequences
Reinforcers- classroom privileges such as feeding the class
pet , receiving a sticker or verbal praise that are awarded to
reinforce positive behavior in the classroom
 Reinforcement vs. Punishment
 Reinforcement determines the path a behavior
takes. Behaviour is shaped by its consequences,
by what happens to the individual immediately
afterward. Behaviour becomes weaker if not
followed by reinforcement.
 Punishment makes behavior weaker.
 Behavior Modification shapes behavior through
 Ignoring undesired behavior /responses
 Reinforcing the desired behavior /responses
 Reinforcement (Positive and Negative)
 Positive Reinforcement- when you give the student something
positive to get them to repeat the desired behavior
 Negative Reinforcement- removal of something the student does
not like to get them to do a desired behavior
 Punishment- opposite of reinforcement.
 Designed to eliminate a certain behavior rather than
increasing it.
•Generally performed by making students’
rewards dependant on certain actions
•Contingent = dependent
•Operant conditioning is otherwise known as
“contingency management techniques”
 Techniques to strengthening behavior
 Shaping- selecting target behaviors and conditioning the
classroom into achieving those behaviors
 Token economies- accumulation of tokens to redeem
reinforces
(ie: treasure chest)
 Contingency Contracts- written or verbal contracts that
detail reinforcement after students completes the
mutually agreed upon assignment (i.e candy rewards)
 Techniques to weakening behavior
-Extinction- ignoring the undesired behavior
-Time Out- Temporarily removing a positive reinforcer
-Response cost- removal of a stimulus –”Give me a
dollar”
-Punishment - reprimand
 Teachers must decided whether or not behavior
modification is or will be useful in their classroom
 If teachers choose to use behavior modification or
operant conditioning they must also follow up with
reinforcement
 Teachers must try out various forms of reinforcement and
observe and respond to that which works best for each
particular student
 Students must fulfill the need of what is being asked of
them to receive the reward that they want and uphold
positive behaviors and contingency contracts
 Shape classroom behaviors through this process:
1 ) Select the target behavior
2.) Determine how often the target behavior occurs
3.)Select potential reinforcers
4.)Reinforce persistent estimations of the target
behavior
5.)Reinforce the new target behavior each time it
occurs
6.) Reinforce the target behavior on a variable
reinforcement schedule
 Pros
 Many teacher find success in these theories
 The positive reinforcement aspect helps the students see
that there are rewards for following the rules.
 Classroom runs more smoothly due to regulated
behaviors
 Cons
 Some teachers feel that they are manipulating the
students.
 Less intrinsic motivation (primarily extrinsically
motivated)