Premack Principle

The Premack principle is a strategy where access to a high-probability activity is contingent on the occurrence of a low-probability activity. Given two activities with differing probabilities of occurrence during free operant conditions, the occurrence of a lower probability activity can be increased when access to the higher probability activity is made contingent on the occurrence of the lower probability activity. For example, a parent might create a contingency where eating a low-preference food (e.g., brussels sprouts) results in access to a higher preference food (e.g., french fries). At school, a teacher might request that the completion of a low-probability activity (e.g., math worksheet) occur before the student has permission to engage in a high-probability activity (e.g., use of math software on the computer). ...