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The experimental analysis of behavior is a science that studies the behavior of individuals across a variety of species. A key early scientist was B. F. Skinner who discovered operant behavior, reinforcers, secondary reinforcers, contingencies of reinforcement, stimulus control, shaping, intermittent schedules, discrimination, and generalization.
In addition to being an antecedent to industriousness, effort is the foremost consequence of learned industriousness theory. As predicted by the theory, multiple experimental studies have demonstrated increased effort when paired with reinforcement. Pierce, Cameron, Banko, and So conducted two studies in directly testing Eisenberger's theory.
Other theories may focus on additional factors such as whether the person expected a behavior to produce a given outcome, but in the behavioral theory, reinforcement is defined by an increased probability of a response. The study of reinforcement has produced an enormous body of reproducible experimental results.
Reinforcement and punishment are the core tools through which operant behavior is modified. These terms are defined by their effect on behavior. "Positive" and "negative" refer to whether a stimulus was added or removed, respectively. Similarly, "reinforcement" and "punishment" refer to the future frequency of the behavior.
Reinforcement is more likely to influence behavior if given shortly after the response is emitted. The longer people have to wait for a reward, the less effect and the less they will learn. This is the principle of delay discounting. Immediate token reinforcement can bridge later reinforcement. [7]
Behavioral momentum is a theory in quantitative analysis of behavior and is a behavioral metaphor based on physical momentum.It describes the general relation between resistance to change (persistence of behavior) and the rate of reinforcement obtained in a given situation.
Shaping is a conditioning paradigm used primarily in the experimental analysis of behavior. The method used is differential reinforcement of successive approximations. It was introduced by B. F. Skinner [1] with pigeons and extended to dogs, dolphins, humans and other species. In shaping, the form of an existing response is gradually changed ...
Just as "reward" was commonly used to alter behavior long before "reinforcement" was studied experimentally, the Premack principle has long been informally understood and used in a wide variety of circumstances. An example is a mother who says, "You have to finish your vegetables (low frequency) before you can eat any ice cream (high frequency)."