- Reinforcement is a stimulus that follows and is depending upon a behavior and increase the probability of a behavior being repeated.
- Positive reinforcement works by presenting a motivating or reinforcing stimulus to the person after the desired behavior is exhibited, making like behavior more likely to happen in the future
Effects of reinforcement to enhance target behaviour - Likewise for the kids with communication disorders; if we reinforce the child for a positive response (even though it is a small change or response); they will be motivated and will increase that response thus we can improve their positive response by rewarding a reinforcement on time.
- Reinforcement should be delivered within 30 seconds after the child’s positive or desired response or behaviour.
- Negative reinforcement occurs when a certain stimulus is removed after a particular behaviour is exhibited. The likelihood of the particular behaviour occurring again in the future is increased because of removing or avoiding the negative consequences.
- Recent studies found that when a child is reinforced, they shows high level of interest satisfaction and active participation and likelihood of repeating the positive response
Positive reinforcement- benefits
- It encourage good behaviour
- Behaviour is strengthened
- It will develop the character
- Better emotional response
To reduce a behavior we can use negative reinforcement.
- Positive reinforcement is generally the most effective behaviour management strategy in dealing with challenging behaviors of children with ASD.
- It helps autistic children to learn new behavior from life skills through to alternatives to repetitive behaviors.
Rules while using reinforcement
- When starting out, you will reward the child every time the target behaviors occurs
- Gradually fade reinforcement by offering less and less as the desired behavior emerges
- Always pair edible, social or toy reinforcements with verbal praise.
- Should deliver the reinforcement within 30 sec for the positive response.
In Autism we can use reinforcement to:
- Increase the desired behaviours and skills levels
- In care of autism if a child is asked to point to a tree, and then points correctly to the tree, he will immediately receive a reinforce (hug, candy, star). This will result in the chid correctly pointing to the tree more often when someone asked him to point to a tree.
- Once a child can point consistently to the tree, he can be asked to point to a flower or bird. Slowly, you can build up the child’s repository of knowledge.
- Positive reinforcement opens the door to functional skills and academic learning.
