Hawthorn has gotten into the habit of interrupting activities by asking to go to the bathroom multiple times an hour. Sometimes he actually voids, but other times he just turns the faucet on and off. An examination by a medical professional confirms that Hawthorn doesn’t have an underlying medical condition affecting his bladder control. His caregiver collects data and notices that Hawthorn asks to go the bathroom an average of seven times an hour. The caregiver makes a token strip containing seven poker chips on a Velcro strip. A visual timer is set for one hour, and Hawthorn is told he can ask to go to the bathroom six times during the hour. Each time he asks to go to the bathroom, he removes a poker chip and hands it to his caregiver. If he has one poker chip left when the timer goes off, he can exchange it for 5 minutes on the iPad.The caregiver knows this is a strong EO as Hawthorn is not allowed to access the iPad at any other time, and he constantly asks if he can use the iPad to watch YouTube videos of bulldozers, After earning iPad time for four consecutive hours, the strip is cut so that there is room for only six poker chips. Now he can ask to use the restroom only five times (so that he still has one chip to trade for the iPad). After four consecutive hours of earning iPad time, the strip is shortened again so that there is room for only five poker chips, meaning he can ask to use the bathroom only four times. The process continues until there are only two poker chips (i.e., one trip to the bathroom). After several days of successfully earning the iPad for asking to go to the bathroom only one time each hour, the time is extended by 10 minutes until it reaches two hours. Deciding that asking to go to the bathroom once every two hours is a reasonable target that does not disrupt ongoing activities, so the program is maintained at two poker chips for two hours. Which type of differential reinforcement is being used? Explain how you know it is the type of DR you identified:
Hawthorn has gotten into the habit of interrupting activities by asking to go to the bathroom multiple times an hour. Sometimes he actually voids, but other times he just turns the faucet on and off. An examination by a medical professional confirms that Hawthorn doesn’t have an underlying medical condition affecting his bladder control. His caregiver collects data and notices that Hawthorn asks to go the bathroom an average of seven times an hour. The caregiver makes a token strip containing seven poker chips on a Velcro strip. A visual timer is set for one hour, and Hawthorn is told he can ask to go to the bathroom six times during the hour. Each time he asks to go to the bathroom, he removes a poker chip and hands it to his caregiver. If he has one poker chip left when the timer goes off, he can exchange it for 5 minutes on the iPad.The caregiver knows this is a strong EO as Hawthorn is not allowed to access the iPad at any other time, and he constantly asks if he can use the iPad to watch YouTube videos of bulldozers, After earning iPad time for four consecutive hours, the strip is cut so that there is room for only six poker chips. Now he can ask to use the restroom only five times (so that he still has one chip to trade for the iPad). After four consecutive hours of earning iPad time, the strip is shortened again so that there is room for only five poker chips, meaning he can ask to use the bathroom only four times. The process continues until there are only two poker chips (i.e., one trip to the bathroom). After several days of successfully earning the iPad for asking to go to the bathroom only one time each hour, the time is extended by 10 minutes until it reaches two hours. Deciding that asking to go to the bathroom once every two hours is a reasonable target that does not disrupt ongoing activities, so the program is maintained at two poker chips for two hours.
Which type of differential reinforcement is being used?
Explain how you know it is the type of DR you identified:
Reinforcement refers to a consequence that follows a behaviour which increases the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated. The concept of reinforcement was given by B F Skinner in his theory of operant conditioning. According to him, learning occurs because of reinforcement.
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