Name two reinforcement-based procedures used to increase target behavior.

• A. Punishment and extinction.
• B. Continuous reinforcement (CRF) and differential reinforcement of a desirable alternative (DRA).
• C. Time-out and response cost.
• D. DRO and DRI.

Answer: (B)

Reinforcement-based procedures increase behavior by delivering reinforcement contingent on the behavior. Continuous reinforcement reinforces every instance of the target behavior, which helps establish and strengthen it quickly because the learner always gets reinforcing feedback for performing the behavior. Differential reinforcement of a desirable alternative focuses on reinforcing a different, appropriate behavior that serves as a replacement for the undesired one; by consistently rewarding this alternative, the rate of the desirable behavior rises while the undesired behavior is less likely to occur, especially when combined with withholding reinforcement for the problem behavior.

Other approaches here involve reducing behavior rather than increasing it. Punishment and extinction work to decrease, not build up, behavior. Time-out and response cost are punishment-based strategies that reduce behavior by removing access to reinforcement. DRO and DRI are reinforcement-based in some contexts, but DRO emphasizes reinforcement for the absence of the target behavior, and DRI reinforces a behavior that is incompatible with the target, which is more about shifting to a different pattern rather than simply increasing the target behavior. The best pair for reinforcing increasing target behavior is continuous reinforcement and differential reinforcement of a desirable alternative.