Several different arrangements have been described for increasing the response requirements for reinforcement using the label "progressive-ratio schedule." Under the original progressive-ratio schedule, the response requirement is increased after each reinforcer. Subsequently, arrangements have been used in which the number of required responses…

This article reviews evidence from basic and translational research with pigeons and humans suggesting that the persistence of operant behavior depends on the contingency between stimuli and reinforcers, and considers some implications for clinical interventions. (Contains 4 figures.)

In this article, the author presents his views on Michael's (1975) and Baron and Galizio's (2005) arguments on eliminating the distinction between positive and negative reinforcement. He first discusses Michael's concept of these two types of operations and contrasts it with the notions of Baron and Galizio. The author provides the readers his own…

The author of this article presents his own explanation on the two types of conditioning--respondent and operant. He states that when withdrawal of a negative reinforcer is the contingency that increases the strength of the operant behavior, the stimulus will have a negative emotional response to the experimental chamber. However, when a positive…

Baron and Galizio (2005) reviewed and updated Michael's (1975) observations concerning the problems surrounding the distinction between positive and negative reinforcement. In the end they concluded that the valence is unjustified. However, despite the fact that the logical and empirical underpinnings of the distinction have been questioned for…

With their origins in scientific validation, behavior-analytic applications have understandably been developed with an engineering rather than a crafting orientation. Nevertheless, traditions of craftsmanship can be instructive for devising aesthetically pleasing arrangements--arrangements that people will try, and having tried, will choose to…

Michael (1975) reviewed efforts to classify reinforcing events in terms of whether stimuli are added (positive reinforcement) or removed (negative reinforcement). He concluded that distinctions in these terms are confusing and ambiguous. Of necessity, adding a stimulus requires its previous absence and removing a stimulus its previous presence.…

Reinforcers lose their effectiveness when they are presented repeatedly. Early researchers labeled this loss of effectiveness as "satiation" without conducting an experimental analysis. When such an analysis is conducted, "habituation" provides a more precise and empirically accurate label for the changes in reinforcer effectiveness. This paper…

Joint attention (JA) initiation is defined in cognitive-developmental psychology as a child's actions that verify or produce simultaneous attending by that child and an adult to some object or event in the environment so that both may experience the object or event together. This paper presents a contingency analysis of gaze shift in JA…