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A Comment on Contemporary Definitions of Reinforcement as a Behavioral Process

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Abstract

An error in terminology in many contemporary definitions of reinforcement as a behavioral process is presented and discussed. The error is a failure to specify explicitly that antecedent stimulus functions (e.g., eliciting and discriminative) must to be ruled out when invoking “reinforcement” to describe a behavior-change process. The use of inaccurate definitions in the current behavioral literature is reported; problems associated with them are described; and pertinent issues in experimental design are discussed. Finally, an argument is made that a more complete definition of reinforcement might promote more effective scientific practice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit D-5W, Baltimore City Hospitals, University of Kansas, 4940 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA

    Stephen T. Higgins

  2. University of Kansas, USA

    Edward K. Morris

Authors
  1. Stephen T. Higgins
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  2. Edward K. Morris
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Additional information

This paper was prepared while Stephen T. Higgins was supported by research training grants from The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD-ST32) and from The National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA-07209). Portions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Milwaukee, 1983. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Don Baer for his valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper.

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Higgins, S.T., Morris, E.K. A Comment on Contemporary Definitions of Reinforcement as a Behavioral Process. Psychol Rec 35, 81–88 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394911

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