What term encompasses providing reinforcement contingent on performing a target behavior to increase its future occurrence?

• A. Contingencies of reinforcement
• B. Reinforcement
• C. Reinforcer
• D. Intermittent reinforcement

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is that reinforcement only strengthens a behavior when there is a clear rule linking the behavior to the consequence. The term that captures that whole relationship—the set of rules that specify when reinforcement is given in response to a behavior—is contingencies of reinforcement. It includes whether reinforcement is given every time the behavior occurs or only sometimes, and under what conditions the consequence follows the behavior. This is what makes the reinforcement effective in increasing future occurrences.

Think of reinforcement as the process of increasing the likelihood of a behavior by delivering a consequence, the reinforcer, after the behavior. The reinforcer is the actual outcome. Intermittent reinforcement refers to a particular pattern or schedule of delivering reinforcement, not the overall relationship itself.