Escape Training

Description of the Strategy

Escape training is a procedure for maintaining or increasing the future likelihood of a behavior. Escape training is based on the principle of negative rein-forcement, where termination or reduction of an aversive stimulus is made contingent upon the occurrence of a specific behavior. As a result, the individual or organism being trained becomes more likely to display the behavior in the presence of the aversive stimulus (i.e., the behavior is reinforced). Escape training can lead to gradual yet long-lasting increases in the frequency of the trained behavior within the training context. To maximize effective-ness, the behavior should immediately lead to a termination of the aversive stimulus. Combining escape training with positive reinforcement-based procedures may lead to quicker, longer-lasting, and ...