Establishing operations and the discriminative stimulus

Motivating operations and stimulus control

The motivating operations concept has generated substantial conceptual analysis and research interest. Following an analysis of how motivating operations affect behavior, one which emphasizes the interactive role of motivating operations and discriminative stimuli, we propose: a) redefining motivating operations as operations that modulate the reinforcing or punishing effectiveness of particular kinds of events and the control of behavior by discriminative stimuli historically relevant to those events, b) dropping the distinction between behavior-altering and function-altering effects of motivating operations, and c) reducing or eliminating emphasis on conditioned motivating operations. This reconceptualization of the motivating operations concept is intended to increase its value in predicting and gainfully changing behavior.

Jack Michael's Motivation

Among many of Jack Michael's contributions to the field of behavior analysis is his behavioral account of motivation. This paper focuses on the concept of motivating operation (MO) by outlining its development from Skinner's (1938) notion of drive. Conceptually, Michael's term helped us change our focus on how to study motivation by shifting its origins from the organism to the environment. Michael's account also served to stimulate applied research and to better understand behavioral function in clinical practice.

Perhaps More Consideration of Pavlovian-Operant Interaction May Improve the Clinical Efficacy of Behaviorally Based Drug Treatment Programs

Drug abuse remains costly. Drug-related cues can evoke cue-reactivity and craving, contributing to relapse. The Pavlovian extinction-based cue-exposure therapy (CET) has not been very successful in treating drug abuse. A functional operant analysis of complex rituals involved in CET is outlined and reinterpreted as an operant heterogeneous chain maintained by observing responses, conditioned reinforcers, and discriminative stimuli. It is further noted that operant functions are not predicated on Pavlovian processes but can be influenced by them in contributing to relapse; several empirical studies from the animal and human literature highlight this view. Cue-reactivity evoked by Pavlovian processes is conceptualized as an operant establishing/motivating operation. CET may be more effective in incorporating an operant-based approach that takes into account the complexity of Pavlovian-operant interaction. Extinction of the operant chain coupled with the shaping of alternative behaviors is proposed as an integrated therapy. It is proposed that operant-based drug abuse treatments (contingency management, voucher programs, and the therapeutic work environment) might consider incorporating cue-reactivity, as establishing/motivating operations, to increase long-term success-a hybrid approach based on Pavlovian-operant interaction.

A tutorial on the concept of the motivating operation and its importance to application

Motivating operations (MOs) exert a powerful influence over operant relations and hold significant implications for those working in applied settings. In this paper, we describe the concept of the MO and provide "real world" examples. Particular emphasis is given to the concept of the conditioned MO (CMO). Implications for intervention are discussed. It is hoped that this endeavour will encourage the utilization of the full conceptual system of the MO.

The premack principle, response deprivation, and establishing operations

This paper describes response deprivation as an establishing operation. In this context, we review the concept of establishing operation, in particular, its reinforcer-establishing and evocative effects; we place response deprivation in the literature on the reinforcing effects of behavioral activity, wherein response deprivation subsumes the Premack principle; we describe the reinforcer-altering and evocative effects of response deprivation; and we address a methodological concern about the evocative effect. In closing, we discuss some conceptual and empirical implications of the foregoing analyses.

O conceito de operação estabelecedora na análise do comportamento

Em termos gerais, operações estabelecedoras podem ser definidas como eventos ambientais que alteram a efetividade reforçadora de um estímulo, assim como evocam todo comportamento que, no passado, foi seguido por tal estímulo. O conceito parece descrever, em termos comportamentais, o que é usualmente chamado de motivação. O presente artigo pretende apresentar de uma forma didática o desenvolvimento teórico do conceito e seu status na Análise Experimental e Aplicada do Comportamento.