The Premack Principle, a big fancy name for something that is quite simple. So, what is it? The Premack Principle is a behavior change procedure that creates the opportunity for an individual to engage in a high-probability behavior once the occurrence of a low-probability behavior is complete. The reason this procedure is successful is because the high-probability behavior will serve as a reinforcer for the low-probability behavior.

A high-probability behavior is something the individual is more likely to do because it is preferred or reinforcing to them. A low-probability behavior is something the individual is less likely to do because it is undesirable or a non-preferred activity to them. For example, a high probability behavior may be watching TV and a low probability behavior may be brushing teeth. Keep in mind that these behaviors will be unique to each individual.

You have probably even used this behavior procedure before, or someone has with your child. It is a commonly used behavior strategy that you may not know you are using but now you have a name for it. How is it used? Anytime you use a first/then statement you are implementing the Premack Principle, simple as that! Remember you want the high-probability behavior (something they are more likely to do because it’s reinforcing) to serve as a reinforcer to the low-probability behavior (something they are less likely to do) so you will state the low-probability behavior first. For example, first put on your coat, then play outside. Another way you could use this procedure would be to say “When/then.” For example, “When you finish cleaning your room, then you can play on the computer.”

You can think of the Premack Principle as a way to structure your child’s schedule with a good balance of preferred and non-preferred activities to help your child be successful throughout the day. Sometimes too many non-preferred activities in a row before getting to engage in a preferred activity can increase challenging behavior. You may say to yourself, this sounds a lot like bribery. The Premack Principle should be used systematically and consistently, and always for the benefit of the child not for the adult, which in turn makes your requests not bribes. It is a way to motivate your child to complete tasks they may not want to do. It is important that you allow your child to engage in the high-probability behavior right after the low-probability behavior as you state so it can serve as a reinforcer to him or her. If you are looking for a simple and effective way to increase compliance with your child and balance his or her schedule, give the Premack Principle a go! Here are other examples:

• First do three math problems, then play with toys.
• When you are done putting your dishes in the sink, you can watch a show.
• Once you finish reading this page, you can play a game.
• First pick up cars, then listen to music.

Reinforcement is an important component to learning new skills and behaviors. While some reinforcement is contrived, much reinforcement occurs naturally in our everyday lives. We most often don’t even recognize that it is occurring. Reinforcement occurs when there is a stimulus change immediately following a response and increases the future frequency of that type of behavior in similar situations. More simply put, reinforcement is a process that occurs after the behavior and helps us to learn new skills because it strengthens it.
Reinforcement is part of what we call operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is simply one way we learn, and we learn through either reinforcement or punishment. Let’s look at some examples of naturally occurring reinforcement.

• A baby reaches her hands towards the mobile and it moves.
• You push the button on your coffee pot and the coffee starts to brew.
• You put your keys in your car and it starts.
• You lather sunscreen on your skin to avoid a sunburn.
• These are things you might see or do in your everyday life. So how is reinforcement working in these situations you might ask?
• The mobile moving when the baby reaches her hands increases the frequency of the baby reaching towards the mobile again.
• Your coffee brewing increases the likelihood you will push the button the next time you want coffee.
• Your car starting increases the frequency of you putting your keys in the ignition the next time drive.
• Avoiding the sunburn increases the frequency you will use sunscreen again when in the sun.

The key word in all of these situations is INCREASES. The behavior increases which makes it reinforcement.
Reinforcement can also be socially mediated which means that it is must be delivered by another person. This is what we might call “contrived” reinforcement. Often, children with autism need some additional reinforcement to learn new skills and this is okay. Just because a child needs some extra reinforcement now does not mean they will always need that same reinforcement as they continue to grow. The goal of any reinforcement program should focus on fading tangible reinforcement as new skills are learned or problem behaviors decreased. For example, with my own child, I used a sticker chart paired with praise to increase going on the potty. Now that my child is consistently going on the potty, I no longer use the sticker chart and use praise intermittently.

Reinforcement has two categories, primary and secondary reinforcement. Primary reinforcement is reinforcement that is not learned. It is referred to as unconditioned reinforcement. This type of reinforcement refers to things such as food, water, sleep, and air. Secondary reinforcement is conditioned reinforcement. It is conditioned because it is the process of pairing something that was not previously reinforcing with something that is reinforcing such as the primary reinforcement of food. For example, pairing praise with a bite of food makes praise a conditioned reinforcer. With time, you should be able to remove the food and only use praise as a reinforcer because it has been conditioned.

There are two types of reinforcement, positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is when you add in or present something after the behavior that increases the future frequency of that behavior. Negative reinforcement is not negative, hence the title. Instead it also increases the future frequency of a behavior because it is reinforcement that removes something aversive to the individual. Let’s look at some examples.

Positive Reinforcement
Child picks up toys and teacher provides praise and a sticker. *This is positive reinforcement because the praise and sticker are added/presented, and it increases picking up toy behavior.
Negative Reinforcement
Child asks for a break from completing homework and parent allows the child to take a 5-minute break. *This is negative reinforcement because the aversive homework is removed, and the child is more likely (increases) to ask for a break the next time he is completing homework.
There are many things you can use for reinforcement, thus there are many different types of reinforcers. Reinforcers can be activities/privileges, tangible items, primary reinforcers such as food, social reinforcement such as praise, and tokens. Tokens signal larger reinforcement later. For example, your child must earn three tokens before picking a larger reinforcer. Tokens can be actual tokens, or they may be stickers, play money, etc. What your child finds reinforcing will be unique to them. Let’s look at some examples.
Activities/Privileges
Games: Board and interactive such as peek a boo, tag, ring around the rosy, etc.
Community outings: going to the park, out to eat, swimming, etc.
Art activities
Singing/music activities
Cooking
Staying up late
Taking a break/down time

Tangible Items
Toys
Books
Sensory items
Household items that your child enjoys

Social Reinforcers
Praise
High fives
Hugs
Back rubs
Thumbs up

Primary Reinforcers
Food
Water
Sleep

Tokens
Sticker chart
Play money (bucks)
Actual tokens

How do you know what is reinforcing to your child? You most likely can already identify your child’s favorite things; however, you may want to do an informal reinforcer assessment to get a better idea of which items are the most reinforcing. To conduct an informal assessment, identify what items your child plays with the most or watch them during play to see what they play with. You can also ask others who know your child well what they think your child likes. For example, asking your child’s teacher what they prefer at school. Once you have identified items that your child prefers, you can pair items and ask them to choose which one they what. Take notes, on the items/activities that your child chooses the most.
When teaching a new skill consider using some of your child’s favorite things as reinforcers to shape the new behavior or skill you want your child to learn. It will be important to cut off reinforcement for problem behavior and reinforce the skills and behaviors you want to see your child engage in. To use your child’s favorite items as reinforcers here are a few general strategies.
Place the items in your child’s view but not in their reach. This may motivate them to ask for the item or engage in the skill you are teaching.
Keep items that you are using as reinforcers put away. Try to only use them during the times you are shaping behavior or teaching new skills. If your child as access to the reinforcing items all of the time, they may get satiated on them and the items will no longer be reinforcing.
Vary up reinforcers. Just because your child likes something one day does not mean it will be what they are motivated for the next. Just as I mentioned above, your child may get satiated with the reinforcers.
When teaching a new skill or shaping a new behavior it is important to remember that you may need to reinforce successive approximations of that behavior. This is shaping. For example, when teaching a child to sit at the table you may first reinforce the child standing at the table, then sitting for 30 seconds, then reinforce only when they sit for 1 minute, etc., until you get to the target goal.
Often in the beginning when teaching a new skill or shaping a new behavior, reinforcement must occur in close approximation to the target behavior. That is, reinforcement should occur immediately after the response and for each response. Once your child starts to become successful for a period of specified time, you can fade reinforcement (i.e. reinforce for a certain number of responses or time).
Reinforcement is perhaps the most important and powerful principle of behavior analysis. It is always in use and sometimes we might accidentally reinforce behaviors that we don’t want to see. However, when reinforcement is used appropriately it can shape any new behavior or skill that you want to see your child engage in. What behavior will you reinforce today?

References
Bearss, K., Johnson, C., Handen, B., Butter, E., Lecavalier, L., Smith, T., Scahill, L. (2018). Parent training for disruptive behavior: the rubi autism network. New York: Oxford University Press.

Chazin, K.T. & Ledford, J.R. (2016). Preference assessments. In Evidence-based instructional practices for young children with autism and other disabilities. Retrieved from http://ebip.vkcsites.org/preference-assessments

Cherry. K. (2019). Positive and negative reinforcement in operant conditioning. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-reinforcement-2795414

Cooper, J., Heron, T., & Heward, W. (2007). Applied behavior analysis. New Jersey: Pearson.

Perhaps you have noticed or been told that your child “acts” a certain way in one environment and a different way in another. From experience, my own children engage in different behaviors at school than they do at home. I often get asked by parents why this occurs. A good place to start to uncover some answers to this question is by looking at the environment.

From a young age, children quickly learn the expectations and consequences for each environment they are a part of. Examples of different environments include the grocery store, swimming pool, park, home, and school. From a behavioral perspective, we believe that people engage in different behaviors across environments due to the contingencies that are put in place. A contingency is the relationship between two events, the behavior and consequence, and one is “contingent” on the other. Contingencies can be natural or contrived and come in the form of reinforcement or punishment. Here is an example:

Antecedent              Behavior                  Consequence

Child wants juice    Child says “Juice”   Parent gives child juice

This consequence reinforces or strengthens the behavior of appropriately asking for juice. Since the child received the juice, the child is more likely to say “Juice” in the future.

Let’s look at another example…

 Antecedent                                                               Behavior                       Consequence

Parent tells child it is time to take a bath           Child runs away          Delays bath

In this example, the behavior was also reinforced or strengthened because the child was able to delay the bath which is a non-preferred activity. Since the child was able to delay the bath, the child is more likely to run away in the future when it is bath time.

This is an example of how easy it can be to accidentally reinforce the behaviors we do not want to see. In this example, it would be important for the parent to follow through with the request and prompt or guide the child to that bathtub.

Consequences occur after the behavior and all behaviors have a consequence. At times, you may find that you have to be reactive; however, there are many things you can do to your environment to help your child be successful and decrease the chances the problem behavior will occur in the first place.

Often children with autism, need a little extra support to learn the expectations for each environment. While contingencies will always be different across environments, I will discuss some general strategies for creating a supportive environment that can work across the board.

1. Safety First

Children with autism may engage in unsafe behaviors such as self-injurious behavior, elopement, jumping off of items, and climbing.

• Ensure the room is set up for maximum safety
• All items your child is not supposed to have are put up and away
• Locks and gates can be used to ensure safety
• Use of visuals such as a stop sign or signs signaling what your child is to do and not do in situations where safety is a factor can be useful.

2. Structure, Consistency, and Predictability

Children with autism often thrive in structured environments that are high in predictability. There are a variety of ways you can make your environment more structured and predictable.

• Use a visual schedule
• Create an expectation visual: List what behaviors you expect from your child at various times of the day.
• Use a first-then visual to show your child once a nonpreferred activity is complete a preferred or reinforcing activity will be next.
• Balance nonpreferred/difficult and preferred/easy tasks throughout your child’s day.
• It may be helpful to break nonpreferred/difficult tasks into smaller steps with reinforcement throughout.
• It is important to keep a consistent daily schedule (e.g. consistent morning routine, bedtime routine, etc.)
• Have structured play activities—children with autism may have a difficult time playing independently or appropriately. They may need adult facilitation to model, prompt, and reinforce appropriate skills.
• Providing your child with reminders and prompts for appropriate behavior can help to encourage the behavior you want to see.

It is okay that children act different from one environment to another. It is not expected that children will act the same at home as they do at school or in another environment because the contingencies are different. However, you can set up each environment to be supportive of the behaviors you would like to see your child engage in.

Citations

Cooper, J., Heron, T., & Heward, W. (2007). Applied behavior analysis. New Jersey: Pearson.

Let’s learn aba (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.letslearnaba.com/aba-terms/contingencies/

Roane, H., Ringdahl, J., & Falcomata, T. (2015). Clinical and organizational applications of applied behavior analysis. San Diego: Elsevier Inc.

Webster, Jerry. (2019, January 26). Contingency — the Important Relationship Between Behavior and Reinforcement. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/contingency-behavior-and-reinforcement-3110376