Describe A Situation In Which You Can Identify Potentials

Describe A Situation In Which You Can Identify Pote

Describe a situation in which you can identify potential reinforcers and how, by observing the behavior of people in that environment/situation, you would identify reinforcers that are operating.

Fridays are for the most part everyone's favorite day of the work week because it signifies the end of the workweek and the upcoming days off. At my office, Fridays are characterized by a rapid, busy pace as employees strive to complete their workload. In the morning, the supervisor often states that if we finish our tasks early, we are allowed to leave early. Despite sometimes being overwhelmed with tasks and the impossibility of finishing everything ahead of schedule, coworkers and I tend to work faster and more diligently. We often skip lunch breaks in the hopes of completing our work early to go home sooner.

In this environment, one can observe several cues indicating potential reinforcers. For instance, a clear reinforcer is the supervisor's promise of early departure: "Supervisor tells Yelitza she can go home early if the work is finished early." In this scenario, Yelitza is required to work the full day. To achieve her goal, she eliminates distractions and works more quickly. Once she completes her tasks early, she earns the reward of leaving work early and going home. The potential reinforcer here is "to go home early."

This situation exemplifies positive reinforcement because the addition of a reinforcing stimulus—the opportunity to leave early—occurs following a specific behavior, namely working more efficiently. This increases the likelihood that employees will continue working harder and faster in future situations where similar rewards are offered. The observable behavior (working faster and skipping breaks) is directly linked with the potential reinforcement (leaving early), demonstrating the operant conditioning principle of reinforcement geared toward increasing desired behaviors (Skinner, 1953).

Furthermore, observing the environment reveals that the office becomes quieter, with reduced small talk and side conversations. This behavioral change indicates an underlying motivation to complete work swiftly, thus increasing the chances of obtaining the reinforcer. Such environmental cues, coupled with employee behaviors, provide insight into which stimuli are functioning as reinforcers (Chiesa & Malaguarnera, 2017).

References

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• Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. New York: Free Press.
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