Dynamic changes in reinforcer effectiveness: Satiation and habituation have different implications for theory and practice

Abstract

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 reviews some of the data that suggest that habituation occurs to repeatedly presented reinforcers. It also argues that habituation has surprisingly different implications than satiation for theory and practice in behavior analysis. For example, postulating that habituation occurs to repeatedly presented reinforcers suggests ways for maintaining the strength of an existing reinforcer and for weakening the strength of a problematic reinforcer that differ from those implied by an account in terms of satiation. An habituation account may also lead to different ways of conceptualizing the regulation of behavior. For example, habituation may be a singleprocess contributor to the termination of behaviors that are usually attributed to satiation (e.g., ingestive behaviors such as eating and drinking), fatigue (e.g., energetic behaviors such as running), the waning of attention (e.g., cognitive behaviors such as studying), and pharmacodynamic factors (e.g., drug taking).

Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment

“…Managers therefore need to think about different ways of recognizing workers to ensure that their recognition remains effective. 33 In line with this, Rogers and Frey (2014) argue that treatment effects of stimuli are generally more likely to show up repeatedly when a surprise element is maintained, for instance when the treatment is provided irregularly, when the time intervals between repetitions are long, and when the treatment is not presented in the same way every time (see also McSweeney, 2004). Second, our findings suggest that scarce recognition is particularly effective because it provides information on the work norm.…”

Discrimination and Reversal Learning by Toddlers Aged 15-23 Months

“…We also sought to forestall any habituation effects (cf. McSweeney, 2004) such as those that we observed previously with 3D stimuli (Gil, Oliveira et al, 2011; Gil, Sousa et al, 2011; Sousa, Garcia, & Gil, submitted; Silva & Souza, 2009). As in our prior studies, the stimuli to be discriminated also functioned as both discriminative and reinforcing stimuli.…”

Incentivizing physical activity using token reinforcement with preschool children

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