Motivating Operations

2

Stimulus Control

• Discriminative Stimulus (SD)– A stimulus in the presence of which

a response has been reinforced– And in the absence of which a

response has not been reinforced• S-delta (SΔ)

– A stimulus in the presence of which a response has not been reinforced

3

Response:

Bang on table

Reinforcer:

“Honey, don’t do that!

You’ll hurt yourself!

SD:

Mom

SΔ:

Dad No response

4

Response:

Scream

Reinforcer:

Break from work

SD:

Teacher Joe

SΔ:

Teacher Jenny No break

5

Response:

Hold out picture of

spoon

Reinforcer:

spoon

SD:

Person in room

SΔ:

No one in room No spoon

6

Response:

“Open door”

Reinforcer:

Door is opened

SD:

Teacher

SΔ:

PeerDoor is not

opened

7

• In The Behavior of Organisms (1938), Skinner argued against the use of the term “drive” – why?– Wanted environmental variables to be the focus of

analysis, rather than viewing it as an “internal causal variable”

– So, rather than talking about a hunger drive, he proposed talking about the relation between food deprivation and changes in behavior

– Skinner argued, “The degree of hunger developed during the fast is, of course, increased, and the rate at which the rat begins to eat is therefore increased as well” (p. 350).

– He also argued that this type of control is different from that of an SD.

Motivating Operations(Sundberg, 2004)

8

• “Deprivation is put to practical use when a child is made more likely to drink milk by restriction of his water intake” (p. 146)

• “Satiation is put to practical use when...an abundance of hors d’oeuvres is use to conceal the scantiness of the dinner which follows” (p. 147).

• “When we present an aversive stimulus, any behavior which has previously been conditioned by the withdrawal of the stimulus immediately follows....The presentation of the aversive stimulus therefore resembles a sudden increase in deprivation” (p. 172).

Science and Human Behavior (Skinner, 1953)

9

• In 1950, Keller and Schoenfeld further refined Skinner’s ideas in Principles of Psychology and used the term establishing operations

• But beginning in the late 1960s, motivation was left out of many behavioral textbooks and was no longer considered by some to be a separate behavioral principle as Skinner analyzed it

• “The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis which began publication in 1968, contained no entries of “establishing operations” in the cumulative indexes (1978, 1988) covering the first 20 years of publication. However, there were 5 entries on “motivation,” but they all involved the use of motivation as a consequence rather than as an antecedent variable” (p. 5)

Motivating Operations (Sundberg, 2004)

10

• In a series of papers Jack Michael (1982, 1988, 1993, 2000) elaborated on Skinner’s analysis of motivation, while adopting Keller and Schoenfeld’s (1950) term “establishing operation.”

• His def of the EO essentially the same as Skinner’s of deprivation, satiation, and aversive stimulation.

• But Michael (like Keller and Schoenfeld) thought that a special term was needed for the different types of variables that fit Skinner’s definition:

• “The term ‘deprivation’ has generally been used...but does not adequately characterize....Salt ingestion, perspiration, and blood loss...likewise temperature changes...emotional operations...and fear....” (Michael, 1982, p. 150).

Motivating Operations (Sundberg, 2004)

11

What does “wanting” mean from a behavioral

perspective?1. The thing that is “wanted” would

function as a reinforcer at that moment in time; and

2. At that moment, behavior that has been previously reinforced with that thing will be more likely to occur

12

• MO is sometimes called “The 4th term of the operant contingency”– The SD and the EO are both antecedent stimuli that evoke

behavior• Recently, Michael proposed motivating operation (MO) as a

more technically precise term• The MO is a stimulus/event that has 2 effects on a contingency

– Value-altering effect• An MO can change the value of a consequence (make it

more or less reinforcing) – Behavior-altering effect

• An MO can change the current frequency of the behavior that’s been reinforced by a consequence in the past

Motivating Operations

13

• Establishing Operation– Increases the reinforcing effectiveness of a consequence

• Food deprivation increases the reinforcing effectiveness of food• Sleep deprivation…• Being deprived of a favorite toy…

– Increases the current frequency of the behavior• Food deprivation evokes behaviors that have been reinforced

with food in the past• Sleep deprivation…• Not having access to a favorite toy for a while…

• Abolishing Operation– Decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of a consequence

• Food consumption decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of food• Sleeping…• Playing with a favorite toy all day…

– Decreases the current frequency of the behavior• Food consumption abates behaviors that have been reinforced

with food in the past• Sleeping…• Playing with a favorite toy all day…

2 Types of MOs

14

The Different Effects of Establishing and Abolishing

Operations

Effect

Establishing Operation (EO)

↑ reinforcing effectiveness↑ behavior

15

The Different Effects of Establishing and Abolishing

Operations

Effect

Establishing Operation (EO)

↑ Reinforcing effectiveness↑ behavior

Abolishing Operation (AO)

↓ Reinforcing effectiveness↓ behavior

16

• UMOs are MOs that are unlearned• We are born with the capacity to

be more affected by food as a reinforcer when we’re hungry (food deprived) than when we’re full

• 9 Main UMOs for humans…

Unconditioned Motivating Operations (UMOs)

17

Unconditioned EOsEO Increases

effectiveness of…Evokes…

Food deprivation

Water deprivation

Sleep deprivation

Activity deprivation

Oxygen deprivation

Sex deprivation

Becoming too warm

Becoming too cold

Increase in painful stimulation

18

Unconditioned AOsAO Decreases

effectiveness of…Abates…

Food consumption

Water consumption

Sleeping

Being active

Breathing

Orgasm

Becoming cooler

Becoming warmer

Decrease in painful stimulation

19

Conditioned Motivating Operations (CMOs) – MOs that are

learned

CMO:

Sight of screw on toy that

needs battery change

Response:

“Do you have a

screwdriver?”

Reinforcer:

screwdriver

20

CMO – Example

CMO:

Suspicious sound

Response:

Call security guard

Reinforcer:

Security guard’s

response

21

CMO - Example

CMO:

Sight of fire truck behind closed door

Response:

“open door”

Reinforcer:

Open door

22

CMO –Example

CMO:

Peanut butter and bread with

no knife

Response:

“knife”

Reinforcer:

knife

23

CMO – Example

CMO:

Alphabet puzzle with all letters except

“A”

Response:

“A”

Reinforcer:

Letter A

24

Other Examples

• Telephone call to go somewhere in the car would make what reinforcing?– Keys

• $1 million to draw a cat would make what reinforcing?– Pen

25

MO vs. SD• How are they similar?

– They both precede behavior– They both evoke operant behavior (but for very

different reasons)• How do they differ?

– SDs have to do with the availability of a reinforcer (has the reinforcer been delivered in the presence of that object in the past?)

– MOs have to do with the effectiveness of a reinforcer (Is the “reinforcer” reinforcing at that moment in time?)

Take It to the Skinner Box!

26

Stimulus Control: Availability of the Reinforcer

Food is reinforcing, but will only be delivered when SD is present

Response:Press lever

SR+:Food

SD:Light on

MO:Haven’t had anything to eat for 10

hrs

Response:Press lever

Extinction:

No Food

SΔ:Light off

MO:Haven’t had anything to eat for 10

hrs

27

Response:Press lever

SR+:Food

SD:Light on

EO:Hasn’t had anything to eat for 10

hrs

Response:Press lever

Food would be delivered,

but it’s not an SR+

SD:Light on

AO:Just ate a

large amt of food

MO Control: Value of the Reinforcer

Food is available, but is only reinforcing when he is food deprived

28

Response:

Bang on table

Reinforcer:

“Honey, don’t do that! You’ll hurt yourself!”

SD:

Mom in room

SΔ:

Dad in room

No response

MO:

Low attention/stimulatio

n

29

Response:

Scream

Reinforcer:

Break from work

SD:

Therapist Joe

SΔ:

Therapist Jenny

No break

MO:

Difficult Task

30

Response:

Hold out PECS picture of spoon

Reinforcer:

Spoon

SD:

Person in room

SΔ:

No person in room

No spoon

MO:

Soup with no spoon

31

Response:

“Open door”

Reinforcer:

Door is opened

SD:

Teacher

SΔ:

PeerDoor is not

opened

MO:

Sight of fire truck

behind door

32

MO Interventions for Problem Behavior Maintained by Social

SR+ (Wilder & Carr, 1998)

• What are the social SR+ functions of problem behavior?• Noncontingent delivery of the reinforcer maintaining problem behavior

– Functions as what type of MO to decrease problem behavior?– Noncontingent Reinforcement (NCR)

AO Decreases effectiveness of…

Abates…

Providing tangible noncontingently

Providing attention noncontingently

33

MO Interventions for Problem Behavior Maintained by Social

SR- (Wilder & Carr, 1998)

• What are the social SR- functions of problem behavior?

• 3 Types of Interventions– NCR: provide escape from task or interactions

noncontingently– Curricular revision: modify complexity, duration,

rate, novelty of task– Stimulus or demand fading: Initially eliminate

task demands and then slowly reintroduce them• All of these function as AOs to decrease the

effectiveness of escape as a reinforcer and abate behavior that has been reinforced with escape in the past

34

MO Interventions for Problem Behavior Maintained by

Automatic SR (Wilder & Carr, 1998) • Problem behavior maintained by automatic SR+

– Examples?– Intervention: provide noncontingent access to the same

type of stimulation that maintains the problem behavior– Hypothesize the sensory consequences that maintain

problem behavior and identify toys/leisure items that provide similar stimulation (“environmental enrichment”)

• Problem behavior maintained by automatic SR-

– Examples?– Intervention: eliminate or reduce the source of some type

of aversive physiological stimulation or state– Provide drugs, massage, sleep

35

References• Keller, F. S., & Schoenfeld, W. N. (1950). Principles of psychology. New

York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.• Michael, J. (1982). Distinguishing between discriminative and motivational

functions of stimuli. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 37, 149-155.

• Michael, J. (1988). Establishing operations and the mand. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 6, 3-9.

• Michael, J. (1993). Establishing operations. The Behavior Analyst, 16, 191-206.

• Michael, J. (2000). Implications and refinements of the establishing operation concept. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 33, 401-410.

• Skinner, B. F. (1938). Behavior of organisms. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

• Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: MacMillan.• Sundberg, M. L. (2004). A behavioral analysis of motivation and its

relation to mand training. In L. W. Williams (ed.). Developmental disabilities: Etiology, assessment, intervention, and integration pp . Reno NV: Context Press.

• Wilder, D.A., & Carr, J.E. (1998). Recent advances in the modification of establishing operations to reduce aberrant behavior. Behavioral Interventions, 13, 43-59.