3.4 Rule-Governed vs. Contingency-Shaped Behavior; Instructions, Rules, and Modeling
Key Takeaways
Contingency-shaped behavior is learned through direct contact with consequences, whereas rule-governed behavior is controlled by a verbal description of a contingency (a rule) that the person may never have contacted directly (Skinner, 1969).
Rules let behavior come under the control of delayed, improbable, or cumulative consequences, but rule-governed behavior can be insensitive to changes in the actual contingencies.
Instructions work only for a learner with listener skills and a history of reinforcement for following instructions; deliver them clearly and once, then reinforce compliance.
Effective modeling requires attending and generalized imitation; use similar, competent models (live, peer, or video), prompt and reinforce imitation, and fade the model.
Two Ways Behavior Comes Under Control
Task B.13 asks you to distinguish contingency-shaped from rule-governed behavior. The distinction, introduced by Skinner (1969), is about the history that produced the behavior:
- Contingency-shaped behavior is learned through direct contact with consequences. A child learns to ride a bicycle mostly by wobbling, falling, and balancing; no description of physics produces the skill. A person stops touching a hot pan after being burned.
- Rule-governed behavior is controlled by a rule: a verbal statement that describes a contingency (sometimes called a contingency-specifying stimulus). "If you study two hours a night, you'll be ready for the exam in March" can evoke studying even though passing the exam is months away and the person has never experienced that exact contingency.
| Feature | Contingency-shaped | Rule-governed |
|---|---|---|
| Source of control | Direct contact with consequences | A verbal description of a contingency |
| Learning speed | Gradual, through repeated contact | Can occur after a single statement |
| Consequences it can handle | Immediate, likely ones | Delayed, improbable, or cumulative ones (health, saving money, exam preparation) |
| Sensitivity to change | Adjusts as consequences change | Can persist after the real contingency changes |
| Requirement | Exposure to the contingency | A listener repertoire and a history of reinforcement for following rules |
Why Rules Matter Clinically
Most adult behavior that pays off only in the long run (taking medication, completing coursework, exercising) depends on rules, because consequences that are delayed by days or years cannot directly reinforce behavior. Contingency contracts (section 10.4) and self-management plans (section 12.5) work largely through rules.
Insensitivity to Contingencies
A well-documented property of rule-governed behavior is that it can be insensitive to the contingencies actually in effect. In laboratory studies, people given an accurate instruction about how to earn points often keep following the instruction after the schedule changes, while people whose responding was shaped by the consequences adjust. In practice, a staff member told "always give a break after three requests" may keep doing so even when data show the break schedule is maintaining problem behavior. The remedy is to bring the behavior back into contact with the actual consequences (data review, feedback) and to update the rule.
Instructions and Rules as Procedures (Task G.7)
Instructions are antecedent verbal stimuli that evoke specified behavior. They are efficient, but they only work when the learner has a listener repertoire and a history in which following instructions was reinforced.
Delivering effective instructions:
- Secure attention first (proximity, the learner's name).
- State the instruction once, briefly, and as a positive action ("Put the blocks in the bin," not "Stop messing around").
- Wait a few seconds for a response before prompting.
- Reinforce compliance immediately, especially while compliance is being established.
- If the learner does not respond, use the planned prompt hierarchy rather than repeating the instruction; repeated instructions can become attention for noncompliance and teach the learner to wait for the third request.
Using rules: Keep classroom or home rules few, observable, and positively stated, and post them. State contingencies explicitly ("First finish five problems, then you can use the tablet"). Rules lose control if they are not backed by the consequences they describe, so the stated consequence must actually follow. Self-instructions, which the learner says aloud and then covertly, are rules the learner provides for themselves. Instructions are also prompts: plan how they will be faded so the natural cue, not the adult's words, ends up controlling the behavior.
Modeling Procedures (Task G.6)
Modeling is demonstrating a behavior so that the learner imitates it. Imitation is behavior that (a) follows the model closely in time, (b) is formally similar to it, and (c) is controlled by the model rather than by another cue.
Prerequisites: the learner must attend to the model and have an imitation repertoire. If a learner does not yet imitate, teach generalized imitation first. Baer, Peterson, and Sherman (1967) reinforced imitation of a series of modeled actions in children who did not imitate; the children eventually imitated new, never-reinforced models as long as other imitations continued to be reinforced.
Types of modeling:
- Live modeling: an adult or peer performs the behavior in front of the learner.
- Peer modeling: a same-age model, often more effective because similarity increases imitation.
- Video modeling: the learner watches a recorded model, which ensures identical, repeatable demonstrations.
- Video self-modeling: the learner watches edited video of themselves performing the skill correctly.
- Point-of-view video modeling: the video shows the task from the learner's own visual perspective.
A meta-analysis by Bellini and Akullian (2007) found video modeling and video self-modeling effective for social-communication, functional, and behavioral skills in children and adolescents with autism, with gains that generally maintained and transferred across settings.
Steps for a modeling program:
- Define and task-analyze the target skill.
- Choose a model who is similar to the learner and competent (and, ideally, seen receiving reinforcement for the behavior).
- Arrange attention, then present the model.
- Give the learner an immediate opportunity to imitate, and prompt if needed.
- Reinforce accurate imitation.
- Fade the model (for example, show only part of the demonstration) and probe the skill in natural settings.
Common Exam Traps
- Calling all antecedent control "rule-governed." A green light that evokes driving is an SD established by contingencies; it does not describe a contingency.
- Assuming a rule guarantees behavior. Rules work only for listeners with a history of reinforced rule following and only while consequences back them up.
- Using modeling with a learner who does not imitate. Teach attending and generalized imitation first.
- Repeating instructions as a "prompt." Repetition is not a planned prompt and can reinforce delayed responding.
An adult exercises 30 minutes every morning after a physician says, "If you exercise daily, your blood pressure will drop within six months." He has never experienced a change in blood pressure from exercise. How is his exercising best classified?
Respondent behavior, because the physician's words elicit an unconditioned response
Rule-governed behavior, because a verbal statement of a delayed contingency controls it
Contingency-shaped behavior, because exercise is reinforced by lower blood pressure
Automatically reinforced behavior, because the sensations of exercise maintain it
Staff were told, "Give the student a break after every third request." Months later, data show breaks now maintain the student's refusals, yet staff keep following the original instruction. Which property of rule-governed behavior does this illustrate?
Insensitivity to changes in the contingencies actually operating
Contingency shaping, because the breaks reinforced the staff's compliance
Spontaneous recovery of a previously extinguished staff behavior
Stimulus generalization of the instruction to new classrooms
A BCaBA shows a 5-year-old a video of a peer saying "Can I play?" before joining a game, but the child never imitates the phrase. What should the BCaBA check first?
Whether the child attends to models and imitates when imitation is reinforced
Whether the phrase should be replaced with a longer, more polite request so peers respond better
Whether the child should watch the video more times before any reinforcement is introduced
Whether the video uses a peer instead of an adult as the model, since adults are always more effective models
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.