ABA Exam CoachLessons · B. Concepts and Principles
B.7 · Unconditioned, conditioned, and generalized
Why does a cold drink after a hike work with no training, while a sticker only matters once a kid has learned what it means? Today we sort reinforcers by one thing: where their power comes from.
Key takeaway
An unconditioned reinforcer works without any learning history, like food, water, or warmth. A conditioned reinforcer starts out neutral and gains its value by being paired with other reinforcers. A generalized conditioned reinforcer is paired with many different backup reinforcers, so it depends less on any single motivating operation and holds up better against satiation. Classify by learning history, not by how much someone values the stimulus.
An unconditioned reinforcer works without any learning history, like food, water, or warmth. A conditioned reinforcer starts out neutral and gains its value by being paired with other reinforcers. A generalized conditioned reinforcer is paired with many different backup reinforcers, so it depends less on any single motivating operation and holds up better against satiation. Classify by learning history, not by how much someone values the stimulus.
Members get the full lesson video, notes and a 5-question test
The video walks through the idea, worked examples, the trap people fall into and an exam-style question. The notes and the checkpoint come with it, and your results feed your Where to focus plan.