Preschool Behavior Project


Early Childhood Behavior Project	Prespecified Reinforcers

Skip navigation	What is the prespecified reinforcer strategy? Prespecifying the reinforcer is a strategy in which, prior to engaging the child in the target activity, the child is told or shown what reinforcer she will receive when the task is finished. The purpose of the prespecified reinforcer strategy is to increase the probability of task engagement and task completion while teaching the student more appropriate ways to gain reinforcement. The long-term goal of this strategy is to move the child from continuous tangible reinforcement to more conditioned reinforcers such as praise. It is important to remember that reinforcers are items or events that have been identified and verified as objects, activities, or types of attention which increase a child's behavior. This intervention is most commonly delivered as an if/then statement. For example, a parent may tell his child: If you eat all your carrots, then you can have a bowl of ice cream, or a child may be told: When you've finished cleaning up the art materials, you can go to the block area. In this strategy, the exact work requirement is specified (how much of the food must be eaten) as well as the exact reinforcer to follow (what the child can expect for dessert). Adults often set up their own prespecified reinforcers to encourage themselves to get a job done. Ann decides she needs to mow the lawn and then she can reward herself by sitting down to watch the tennis match on television. A salary for work is a prespecified reinforcer. The worker is told how much work he is expected to do and how much pay he will receive for doing the work. Receiving the money increases the probability that the worker will continue tomorrow. Why are prespecified reinforcers effective? Prespecified reinforcers are effective because they ensure a continuous schedule of reinforcement. The child completes a task and receives the identified reinforcer for that child (i.e., escape from task, tangibles, attention). Who would benefit from using a prespecified reinforcer strategy? Prespecified reinforcers are useful for children who engage in challenging behavior to: escape or avoid a requested task Jim tries to escape from cleaning or picking up toys when he is at home. obtain or maintain attention Glen will listen to a story when the teacher or assistant reads one-to-one with him, but if the reading session is a group activity, Glen will call out, touch other children, and move around the classroom. In these cases, prespecifying the reinforcers is likely to increase the desired behaviors (i.e., picking up toys, participating in group activities). Moreover, prespecifying the reinforcer is effective in all cases and should be incorporated into most comprehensive behavioral support programs.

	Dropdown menu Click on the dropdown menu below to go to another strategy or tool, or click here to go to the main Strategies page.

	Early Childhood Behavior Project Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) University of Minnesota Joe Reichle, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigators LeAnne Johnson, Project Coordinator Phone: 612-626-3457 E-mail: chaf0032@umn.edu


	College of Education and Human Development	University of Minnesota

	Send questions or comments on the web site to Karen Anderson, Web Site Coordinator. http://pebbles.cehd.umn.edu/ceed/projects/preschoolbehavior/strategies/prespeci.htm This page was last updated on November 27, 2007. © 2005 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Online privacy statement



	[Home] \| [Personnel] \| [Presentations] \| [Strategies] \| [Case Studies] \| [Discussion] \| [Links] \| [Contact Us]