Home-Based Reinforcement

Description of the Strategy

As parents have the greatest amount of contact with their children, home-based reinforcement is often the treatment of choice for increasing desirable child behaviors. A key requirement for home-based reinforcement is that the target behavior be both observable and precisely defined. The behavior must be observable so that the parent can directly monitor it, and it must be precisely defined so the parent and child know exactly what behaviors will lead to reinforcement.

An essential component of home-based reinforcement is measurement of the target behavior. Before the intervention begins, measuring the frequency of the desired behavior provides a baseline. Once reinforcement is begun, continuous measurement of the frequency of the target can be used to gauge the success of the intervention.

Once the target behavior is defined and its baseline frequency recorded, a reinforcer is chosen. An appropriate reinforcer is typically chosen through consultation with the parent and child. A positive reinforcer should fill the following requirements: It is valuable to the child and is rarely, if ever, given to the child, and is available to be given by the parent as often as needed. To be used as a reinforcer, it must also be contingent, that is, it is given to the child only following the target behavior. In addition, it must be available so that it can be given to the child as close to the performance of the desired behavior as possible. Thus, the best reinforcers are those that are valuable and can be applied both consistently and contingently.

Once a reinforcer that can be administered both consistently and contingently is chosen, a schedule of reinforcement is chosen. The schedule may depend, in part, on how often the parent will be able to administer the reinforcer considering time, cost, and availability. While the child is acquiring the desired behavior, the child should be reinforced every time the behavior occurs. Once the behavior is established, the schedule of reinforcement most resistant to extinction is a variable-ratio schedule, in which the child is reinforced after a variable number of instances of the target behavior.

Token economies can be an important part of home-based reinforcement, especially when the [Page 879]reinforcer is large or unable to be given immediately after the exhibition of a behavior. Using tokens that add up to the reinforcer, either by using physical tokens or using checks on a behavioral chart, can facilitate the continuous reinforcement needed to help the child acquire the desired behavior. In addition, using tokens instead of the reinforcer can widen the choice of reinforcers. If the reinforcer most desired by the child is large, the parent can continuously reinforce the child with tokens to earn the large reinforcer.

Home-based reinforcement can also be used to reduce undesirable behaviors through differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior. Reinforcing a behavior that is impossible to engage in at the same time as the undesirable behavior may lead to a decrease in the undesirable behavior.

Research Basis

Home-based reinforcement is a major component of parent training. Parent training has strong empirical support for its efficacy in the treatment of childhood behavior problems. Considerable evidence shows both that improvements in child behavior attained through parent training are maintained over time and that the effects of the intervention generalize to behaviors that were not originally targeted.

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