Behavior Principles in Everyday Life

1
Behavior Principles in Everyday Life

• Chapter 3
• Operant Conditioning

2
Operating

• The word operate means to perform a function
  and produce an effect.
• Thoughts, words, gestures, and all other forms of
  action are useful in operating on our
  environment.
• Operant conditioning is sometimes called
  instrumental conditioning because the skills we
  learn are instrumental in changing things and
  producing specific outcomes.
• Operant conditioning is one of the most basic
  forms of learning, affecting virtually all forms
  of human behavior.

3
Law of Effect

• The earliest formulation of operant principles is
  known as the law of effect. This law is based on
  the observation that voluntary behavior is
  influenced by its effects, namely, its outcomes
  or consequences.
• According to the early version of the law of
  effect, behavior that produces satisfying
  consequences tends to become more frequent over
  time behavior that produces discomfort tends to
  become less frequent.

4
Law of Effect Cont.

• Subsequent reformulations of the law of effect
  recognize the importance of relevant situational
  cues. A behavior may have good effects in one
  situation but bad effects in another situation.
  Stepping on a cars accelerator has good effects
  when the traffic light is green and bad effects
  when it is red. As a result, people become
  sensitive to situational cues, especially to
  antecedent cues that precede their behavior and
  allow them to discriminate whether a behavior is
  likely to produce good effects or bad effects.

5
Law of Effect Cont.

• Behavior is influenced not only by the effects
  that follow it, but also by the situational cues
  that precede it.

6
Operant Conditioning

• Today, the three main components of operant
  conditioning are often expressed in a simple ABC
  formulation, where A, B, and C stand for
  antecedent cues, behavior, and consequences. A B
  ? C
• During operant conditioning, the consequences of
  a behavior do two things They influence
• (1.) the frequency of the behavior in the future,
  and
• (2.) the ability of antecedent cues to set the
  occasion for that behavior in the future.

7
Consequences

• Any operant behavior can be strengthened or
  weakened, depending on the type of consequences
  that follow the behavior.
• Reinforcers are types of consequences that
  strengthen a behavior.
• Punishers are types of consequences that cause a
  behavior to become less frequent.

8
Antecedents

• Antecedent cues that precede behaviors that were
  reinforced in the past tend to set the occasion
  for repeating those behaviors when the
  antecedents appear in the future.
• Antecedent cues that precede behaviors that were
  punished in the past alert us not to repeat those
  behaviors in later times.

9
The Operant

• The unit of behavior we study in operant
  conditioning is called the operant.
• Operants are usually defined by their ability to
  produce certain consequences, not by their
  physical appearances.
• All operants that produce similar consequences
  belong to the same response class.
• Each response class is defined by its
  consequences. All attempts at humor that fit the
  definition of funny jokes produce rewarding
  results hence they are all functionally similar,
  although no two are exactly alike.

10
The Operant Cont.

• No matter if the response class is large or
  small, any behavior patterns that produce the
  same consequences belong to the same response
  class.

11
Reinforcement

• A reinforcer that follows an operant increases
  the likelihood that the operant will occur in the
  future.
• The process by which the frequency of an operant
  is increased is called reinforcement.
• The word reinforce means to strengthen.
• The reinforcers described described in this book
  strengthen operant behavior and make operants
  more likely to occur in the future.
• The speed with which a person learns an operant
  behavior depends on the complexity of the
  operant, the persons present level of skills,
  the reinforcers involved, and numerous other
  variables.

12
Cumulative Records

• Cumulative records provide a convenient way of
  visualizing patterns of behavior by showing the
  total number of operants that a person has
  performed over a period of time.

13
Three Types of Stimuli

• Operant conditioning is often discussed in terms
  of the stimuli that precede and follow behavior.
• A reinforcer is called a reinforcing stimulus
  (SR). Because most stimuli do not have the
  capacity to reinforce behavior, the superscript R
  clarifies that this particular stimulus is a
  reinforcing stimulus, SR.
• SRs or reinforcing stimuli can come from inside
  or outside the body.

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Three Types of Stimuli Cont.

• The most conspicuous and easily studied
  reinforcers (SRs) come from outside the body. An
  athlete who wins trophies and the adulation of
  others is basking in SRs of external origin
  from other people. However, inner thoughts and
  emotions can play important roles in the
  reinforcement process as SRs of inner origins.
  Athletes often push their bodies to the limit
  because daily improvement is rewarded by thoughts
  that they might break a record and qualify for
  Olympic or professional competition. The
  thoughts and related positive emotions are
  internal SRs that can reinforce practicing for
  hours.

15
Three Types of Stimuli Cont.

• When a behavior is followed by an SR, not only is
  the behavior reinforced, any relevant antecedent
  stimulus takes on a special quality, becoming a
  discriminative stimulus (SD). This type of
  stimulus is identified with a superscript of D to
  indicate that it is a stimulus for
  discrimination, SD. We can now rewrite the
  simple ABC equation presented earlier in more
  precise terms. SDs set the occasion for operant
  behaviors (B) that have lead to SRs in the past.
• SD B ? SR

16
Three Types of Stimuli Cont.

• When a behavior (B) is followed by a reinforcing
  stimulus (SR) in one context but not in other
  contexts, any antecedent context cue associated
  with reinforcement becomes a discriminative
  stimulus.
• The stimuli that best predict when and where
  behavior is likely to be reinforced are most
  likely to become SDs.
• When a behavior is not followed by reinforcement,
  the stimuli that best predict non-reinforcement
  becomes S?s, discriminative stimuli that inhibit
  responding.

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Three Types of Stimuli Cont.

• S?s pronounced ess deltas signal that the
  behavior is not likely to be reinforced in this
  particular context (whereas SDs signal that
  reinforcement is likely).
• S?s tend to inhibit behavior because they signal
  that no rewards are likely in S? situations.
• Put simply, SDs are like green lights that signal
  us to go ahead and do some behavior, whereas S?s
  are like red lights that signal no go.
• The stimuli that are SDs for one behavior may be
  S?s that inhibit another behavior.

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Three Types of Stimuli Cont.

• At a busy traffic signal, a green light is an SD
  for driving ahead and an S? that inhibits
  slamming on the brakes since this is not the
  time to stop the car and risk being rear-ended.
• Any stimulus a person, place, or thing can
  become an SD for all the behaviors that have been
  reinforced in its presence and an S? that
  inhibits behaviors that have not been reinforced
  in its presence. Everyone who has pushed a PULL
  door knows that the inhibitions are not always
  100 effective.

19
Three Types of Stimuli Cont.

• (1.) The SDs do not cause behavior, and S?s do
  not have the power to prevent a behavior from
  occurring.
• (2.) SDs set the occasion for operants, they do
  not cause behavior.
• (3.) S?s are inhibitory signals that reduce the
  likelihood of doing operant behavior they cannot
  cause the behavior never to be performed.

20
Three Types of Stimuli Cont.

• Sometimes people learn to discriminate between
  two rewarding experiences merely because one
  provides more reinforcers than the other.
  Antecedent cues that predict more reinforcement
  become SDs for doing the behavior cues that
  predict less reinforcement become S?s that
  inhibit the behavior. Antecedent cues can become
  S?s
• (1.) because they are associated with no
  reinforcement, or
• (2.) merely because they are associated with less
  reinforcement than is available elsewhere.

21
Three Types of Stimuli Cont.

• Learning to discriminate between SDs and S?s may
  take place quickly or slowly. People are often
  quick to learn easy discriminations between
  reinforcement versus no reinforcement and slower
  to learn subtle discriminations between more and
  less reinforcement.
• SDs set the occasion for operants, they do not
  cause behavior.

22
Stimulus Control

• When social or nonsocial events precede operant
  behavior and affect its occurrence, they are
  called controlling stimuli.
• A controlling stimulus (S) is said to alter the
  probability of an operant, in the sense that the
  response is more (or less) likely to occur when
  the stimulus is present.
• Discriminative stimulus (SD) - a controlling
  stimulus that sets the occasion for reinforcement
  of an operant.
• S-delta (S?)or extinction stimulus- a stimulus
  that sets the occasion for nonreinforcement or
  extinction of an operant.

23
What do these have in common?

• Visiting a restaurant when neon signs are
  illuminated?

• Running only where the footprints are shallow (or
  numerous)

24

• Cat meows only at the window with lights on

• Drive in the lane with least traffic

• Dressing up for a date

25
What is an SD?

• The sound of an ice cream trucks chimes to
  children.
• The sound of a can opener to a cat.
• The sound of your boss or your professor clearing
  their throat loudly.
• Sunday to Christians, Saturday to Jews.
• The official robes of a judge

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Answer All involve stimulus control!

• Stimulus control occurs when 1) a response occurs
  in the presence of a stimulus and 2) does not
  occur in its absence
•   organism is able to discriminate two or more
  different situations
• proof is in the behavior

27
Positive and Negative Reinforcement

• There are two kinds of reinforcement positive
  and negative. To reinforce means to strengthen,
  and both positive and negative reinforcement
  strengthen behavior. Both increase the
  likelihood that people will repeat a behavior in
  the future. In terms of the law of effect,
  positive reinforcement consists of the onset or
  addition of good effects, and negative
  reinforcement consists of the termination or
  subtraction of bad effects. The onset of
  pleasurable music is a good effect that provides
  positive reinforcement for turning on the stereo.

28
Positive and Negative Reinforcement Cont.

• The termination of the alarm clocks aversive
  buzz in the morning provides negative
  reinforcement for turning off the alarm. The
  difference between positive and negative
  reinforcement is simple one involves the
  positive () addition of good things and the
  negative involves the subtraction (-) of bad
  things.

29
Positive and Negative Reinforcement Cont.

• Learning more effective sexual techniques leads
  to more pleasurable feelings, which are positive
  reinforcers for discovering those techniques.
  Reducing arguments with people you love lessens
  the pain in life which provides negative
  reinforcement for learning better communication
  skills.
• Positive reinforcement occurs with the onset of a
  reinforcing stimulus
• Negative reinforcement occurs with the
  termination of an aversive stimulus.

30
Positive and Negative Reinforcement Cont.

• One way to remember the difference between
  positive and negative reinforcement is to think
  of addition and subtraction as synonymous for
  positive and negative. Positive reinforcement
  strengthens behavior when good effects are added
  to our lives. Negative reinforcement strengthens
  behavior when bad effects are subtracted.

31
Positive and Negative Reinforcement cont.

• The antecedent cues that precede any kind of
  reinforcement positive or negative become SDs
  that set the occasion for repeating the behavior.
• Both positive and negative reinforcement can
  strengthen any operant behavior.

32
Positive Reinforcement

• People usually enjoy learning via positive
  reinforcement because it adds to the good effects
  and pleasurable experiences in their lives.
• Positive reinforcement is an ideal method for
  enhancing human creativity. All people have the
  potential to be either creative or uncreative.

33
Positive Reinforcement

• Positive reinforcement can be given in either
  natural or artificial ways. We have all heard
  adults give children clearly artificial and
  contrived praise Maria, what a nice doggie you
  have drawn. Unnatural praise and artificial
  rewards sometimes produce desirable effects with
  young children but as children learn more about
  life, they can learn to be wary of highly
  contrived and unnatural rewards. Artificial
  rewards used in a manipulative manner can even
  decrease the frequency of an operant.

34
Negative Reinforcement

• Negative reinforcement occurs when escape or
  avoidance allows us to subtract aversive
  experiences from our lives.
• The rewards of negative reinforcement are based
  on the termination of aversive situations rather
  than the onset of good effects and pleasurable
  experiences.

35
Negative Reinforcement Cont.

• The two main classes of behavior produced by
  negative reinforcement are escape and avoidance.
  Escape responses are those operants that allow a
  person to get away from aversive stimuli after
  the aversive stimuli are present. Avoidance
  responses are those operants that allow a person
  to prevent the occurrence of aversive stimuli
  before the aversive stimuli appear.

36
Negative Reinforcement Cont.

• There are two valuable ways to learn the essence
  of negative reinforcement.
• (1.) Escape and avoidance are the two main
  response classes learned due to negative
  reinforcement.
• (2.) The word negative suggests the minus
  sign in subtraction math and negative
  reinforcement is based on the subtraction of pain.

37
Negative Reinforcement Cont.

• Both escape and avoidance can subtract pain from
  our lives. Escape involves reacting after an
  aversive event is present. Avoidance involves
  proacting taking preventative steps before an
  aversive event arises.
• Escape is usually learned before avoidance when
  dealing with any given aversive situation.

38
Negative Reinforcement Cont.

• Some couples allow their marriages to deteriorate
  into fights and arguments then they react by
  trying to escape the aversive situation through
  marital counseling, divorce, or having affairs.
  Other couples who see their friends having
  marital troubles may proact by working on
  improving their communication and resolving
  differences before serious problems arise
  thereby avoiding at least some of the fights and
  arguments that might undermine their love.
  Unfortunately, many people do not learn to proact
  soon enough to save their marriages.

39
Escape, PLEASE!

• Not too long ago, NYC had a very effective bill
  collector who could collect any bill
• The bill collector was not an agency but one man
  who kept an overcoat in a garbage can full of
  the most vile stuff imaginable, (think of
  decaying fish x 10). The coat was kept clean but
  allowed to absorb all the odor possible. Upon
  taking a case for collection of an unpaid bill,
  the stinky bill collector would present himself
  at your place of office or residence, produce a
  letter explaining that he was there to collect
  the bill and that he would not leave until he
  collected payment.
• Bills were promptly paid to make him go away

40
Extinction

• Extinction consists of the discontinuation of any
  reinforcement that had once maintained a given
  behavior. When reinforcement is withdrawn, the
  frequency of the response usually declines.
• Extinction can take place because
• (1.) no reinforcement is associated with a
  certain behavior, or
• (2.) less reinforcement is associated with that
  behavior than with some superior alternative.

41
Extinction Cont.

• Antecedent stimuli that are regularly associated
  with nonreinforcement or with less
  reinforcement than a superior alternative
  become S?s that inhibit responding during
  extinction.
• Extinction occurs after the discontinuation of
  any type of reinforcement positive or negative.

42
Defining Extinction

• Numerous studies have demonstrated the
  effectiveness of extinction for decreasing
  problem behaviors in children and adults.
• Consider the study of Hasazi and Hasazi (1972),
  who used extinction to reduce arithmetic errors
  made by an 8-year-old boy. Whenever the boy did
  addition problems with 2-digit answers, he
  reversed the digits (for example, he wrote 21
  instead of 12 as the answer to 75).
• The researchers determined that the attention
  (extra help) provided by the teacher for
  incorrect answers was reinforcing the childs
  behavior of reversing the digits. The extinction
  procedure required the teacher to refrain from
  providing attention for incorrect answers. The
  teacher also praised the child for correct
  answers.

43
Defining Extinction

• The childs digit-reversal behavior decreased
  dramatically when extinction was implemented.

44
Defining Extinction

• This study is particularly interesting because
  many professionals would have considered the
  digit reversal to be a sign of a learning
  disability, whereas the authors demonstrated that
  the digit reversal actually was an operant
  behavior reinforced by the teachers attention.

45
Extinction After Positive Reinforcement

• When positive reinforcement for a given operant
  is terminated, the frequency of that operant
  usually declines.
• Extinction can be powerful therapeutic tool for
  dealing with behavior once maintained by positive
  reinforcement.

46
Extinction After Positive Reinforcement Cont.

• Some children learn to whine, pout, or throw
  tantrums because these behaviors bring social
  attention. Terry whined many hours each day.
  His parents often reinforced his behavior by
  paying attention to him. If whining did not
  attract attention, Terry usually began shouting.
  The whining and shouting were so aversive that
  his parents usually paid attention to Terry just
  to quiet him.

47
Extinction After Positive Reinforcement Cont.

• Thus, Terry received the positive reinforcement
  of social attention for whining and shouting (and
  Terrys parents received negative reinforcement
  for paying attention to him because their
  attention helped them escape the aversive whining
  and shouting). A behavioral therapist told
  Terrys parents to switch their strategy and stop
  paying attention to Terry when he whined or
  shouted. They should ignore his obnoxious
  behavior and reward him when he behaved well.

48
Extinction After Positive Reinforcement Cont.

• Reinforcement increases the frequency of
  behavior, and extinction decreases it. During
  the reinforcement periods, the parents were SDs
  for Terrys whining and shouting. During
  extinction, the parents became S?s that inhibited
  these behaviors, because the parents no longer
  reinforced Terrys unpleasant activities.

49
Extinction After Negative Reinforcement

• When an operant that was maintained by negative
  reinforcement ceases to be linked with negative
  reinforcement, the frequency of that operant
  usually declines. The extinction of negatively
  reinforced behavior occurs as the second phase of
  a two-phase sequence
• (1.) a person has learned some response that help
  escape or avoid an aversive stimulus, then
• (2.) the stimulus ceases being aversive or is no
  longer present. During the second half of the
  sequence the extinction phase the escape or
  avoidance behavior becomes less frequent.

50
Extinction After Negative Reinforcement Cont.

• The Exception Avoidance Retards Extinction
• People sometimes continue doing well-learned
  avoidance responses long after negative
  reinforcement has ended during extinction.
• Avoidance of a once aversive situation can
  prevent people from learning that the situation
  has ceased being aversive thus, avoidance
  responses may continue even when there is no
  longer any negative reinforcement.

51
Punishment

• When an operant is followed by a stimulus that
  suppresses the frequency of the operant in the
  future, the stimulus is called a punisher.
• The process by which the frequency of an operant
  is suppressed is called punishment.
• When people do an operant behavior that is
  punished, any stimulus regularly correlated with
  the punishment may become an S? discriminative
  stimulus that inhibits the operant in that
  stimulus context.

52
Punishment Cont.

• Both punishment and extinction reduce frequency
  of behavior however, strong and immediate
  punishment usually does so more rapidly and more
  completely than does extinction.
• Punishment produces the fastest suppression of
  behavior when it is strong, immediate, and not
  opposed by reinforcement.

53
Punishment Cont.

• What if a behavior can be followed by both
  reinforcement and punishment? There is a complex
  mix of reinforcers strengthening behavior and
  punishers suppressing behavior. When punishment
  is opposed by reinforcement, behavior is
  influenced by the relative intensity and
  frequency of both the punishment and
  reinforcement.
• The opposing effects of reinforcement and
  punishment are based, in part, on the intensity
  of each.

54
Punishment Cont.

• The cost/benefit ratio of punishment and
  reinforcement helps predict how much response
  suppression will occur. When costs are high and
  benefits are low, there is more response
  suppression than when costs are low and benefits
  are high.
• Also, the frequency of punishment and
  reinforcement affects the cost/benefit ratio. If
  a behavior is always rewarded, but punished only
  one time in ten the intermittent punishment is
  less likely to suppress responding than would
  more frequent punishment.

55
Punishment Cont.

• Even mild or infrequent punishment can totally
  suppress behavior if some alternative behavior is
  availablewith a better cost/benefit ratio.

56
Two Types of Punishment

• The onset or addition of a aversive stimulus can
  suppress behavior.
• The second type of punishment occurs when our
  behavior leads to the termination or subtraction
  of a rewarding stimulus.
• Punishment by the addition of an aversive
  stimulus is called positive punishment, where
  positive means addition.
• Punishment by the subtraction of a reward is
  called negative punishment, where negative
  indicates subtraction.

57
Punishment by Adding

• Whenever an operant leads to the onset or
  addition of aversive experiences, the operant is
  punished. The physical environment is often a
  source of punishment by addition. Careless
  handling of fire, bees, knives, machines, and
  many other objects can lead to painful
  consequences hence careless responses are
  suppressed by naturally occurring positive
  punishment, involving the addition of pain.
• Numerous social forms of punishment involve the
  addition of aversive stimuli.

58
Punishment by Adding Cont.

• Thus, aversive stimulations can both
• (1.) cause wrong responses to be punished and
  suppressed, via the addition of aversive stimuli,
  and
• (2.) cause escape or avoidance skills to be
  acquired and strengthened, via negative
  reinforcement.

59
Positive Punishment

• Sajwaj, Libet, and Agras (1974) also used
  positive punishment to decrease life-threatening
  rumination behavior in a 6-month-old infant.
  Rumination in infants involves repeatedly
  regurgitating food into the mouth and swallowing
  it again. It can result in dehydration,
  malnutrition, and even death.
• In this study, each time the infant engaged in
  rumination, the researchers squirted a small
  amount of lemon juice into her mouth. As a
  result, the rumination behavior immediately
  decreased, and the infant began to gain weight.

60
Positive Punishment

• This punishment procedure, called contingent
  exercise, resulted in an immediate decrease in
  the hitting behavior.

61
Positive Punishment

• One other form of positive punishment is based on
  the Premack principle, which states that when a
  person is made to engage in a low-probability
  behavior contingent on a high-probability
  behavior, the high-probability behavior will
  decrease in frequency.
• In other words, if, after engaging in a problem
  behavior, a person has to do something he or she
  doesnt want to do, the person will be less
  likely to engage in the problem behavior in the
  future.
• Luce, Delquadri, and Hall (1980) used this
  principle to help a developmentally delayed
  6-year-old boy stop engaging in aggressive
  behavior. Each time the boy hit someone in the
  classroom, he was required to stand up and sit
  down on the floor ten times in a row.

62
Positive Punishment

• This punishment procedure, called contingent
  exercise, resulted in an immediate decrease in
  the hitting behavior.

63
Punishment by Subtracting

• Whenever an operant leads to the loss or removal
  of positive reinforcers, the operant is punished
  by subtraction.
• We stop putting quarters in a candy machine after
  losing several quarters in a row and getting no
  candy. Clumsy, inconsiderate, or crude behavior
  in social interaction may result in a loss of
  friends and possible new acquaintances. When a
  person says something insensitive at a party and
  several of the listeners soon turn to join other
  conversations, the loss of social reinforcers
  punishes the behavior of saying insensitive
  things in public.

64
Negative punishment

• Clark, Rowbury, Baer, and Baer (1973) used
  time-out to decrease aggressive and disruptive
  behavior in an 8-year-old girl with Downs
  syndrome. In time-out, the person is removed from
  a reinforcing situation for a brief period of
  time after the problem behavior occurs.

65
Negative Punishment

• Each time the girl engaged in the problem
  behavior in the classroom she had to sit by
  herself in a small time-out room from 3 minutes.
  As a result of time-out, her problem behaviors
  decreased immediately.

66
Negative Punishment

• In a study by Phillips, Fixsen, and Wolf (1971),
  predelinquent youths in a residential treatment
  program earned points for engaging in appropriate
  behavior and traded in their points for backup
  reinforcers such as snacks, money, and
  privileges. The points were conditioned
  reinforcers.
• The researchers then used a negative punishment
  procedure called response cost to decrease late
  arrivals for supper. When the youths arrive late,
  they lost some of the points they had earned. As
  a result, late arrivals decreased until the
  youths always showed up on time.

67
Discontinuation of Punishment

• Punishment does not cause behavior to be
  unlearned. It merely suppresses the frequency
  of responding . Often the effects of punishment
  are only temporary and when punishment no longer
  occurs, the rate of responding usually increases.
  This phenomenon is called recovery.
• Recovery is fastest and most complete when the
  original punishment was mild or infrequent and it
  is opposed by reinforcement for doing the
  behavior.

68
Timing and Contingency of Consequences

• Generally, operant conditioning is most likely to
  occur when reinforcers and punishers follow
  immediately after an operant.
• Close time links between a behavior and a
  reinforcer or punisher do not always lead to
  operant conditioning and long delays do not
  always prevent it.
• Both depend on the contingency of reinforcement
  how closely the consequence is causally related
  to the behavior.

69
Timing and Contingency of Consequences Cont.

• Reinforcers and punishers that accidentally
  follow but are not actual consequences of a
  behavior are not likely to produce operant
  conditioning, even if they follow immediately
  after the behavior.
• Operant behavior is modified by contingent
  consequences Reinforcers and punishers that only
  follow behavior by accident usually produce
  little operant conditioning, even if they occur
  immediately after a behavior.

70
Timing and Contingency of Consequences Cont.

• When reinforcers and punishers are the actual
  consequences of a behavior, they are called
  contingent reinforcers and punishers to
  indicate that the consequences resulted from the
  behavior.
• Any reinforcers and punishers that only follow
  behavior by accident are called noncontingent
  reinforcers and punishers because they are not
  actually related to the behavior. Noncontingent
  reinforcers and punishers have little ability to
  produce operant conditioning, although they can
  under some conditions lead to unusual effects.

71
Timing and Contingency of Consequences Cont.

• Each behavior is modified most powerfully by its
  own consequences but not by consequences of
  other behaviors (or by other accidental
  reinforcers and punishers). Thus, the close
  timing of a behavior and a reinforcer or punisher
  is unlikely to produce operant conditioning if
  the reinforcer or punisher is not contingent on
  but only accidentally follows the behavior in
  question.

72
Timing and Contingency of Consequences Cont.

• There is a second qualification to the
  generalization that operant conditioning is most
  likely to occur when reinforcers and punishers
  follow immediately after an operant. Delayed
  consequences can produce operant conditioning if
  a person can detect a contingent, causal
  relationship between a behavior and its
  consequences.

73
Timing and Contingency of Consequences Cont.

• Humans are more capable than any other species of
  detecting contingent linkages between behavior
  and delayed consequences. Some of this ability
  to respond to delayed consequences can be traced
  to our having large brains with many areas
  devoted to learning. It also depends on our
  ability to verbally reconstruct the events of the
  past hours, days, or weeks, and identify possible
  linkages between our behavior and delayed
  consequences.

74
Timing and Contingency of Consequences Cont.

• The more frequently and vividly we think about a
  behavior and its delayed but contingent
  consequences, the more likely the behavior is to
  be modified.
• Even though there may be a long delay between a
  behavior and its contingent consequences,
  verbally reconstructing the link between a
  behavior and its consequences in close connection
  allows us to link memories of a behavior and its
  consequences with almost zero time delays.