1. There once was a girl whose name
was Maria, and she had a problem
with attending her Sociology class.

2. There was nothing
reinforcing her
attendance, nor an
aversive condition
punishing her lack of
attendance.

3. Maria had a The requirements of
Psychology class the Psychology class
that was more required many extra
difficult than her hours of study.
Sociology class.
It also offered reinforcers for
attending class, and even
presented aversive stimuli for
not showing up.
Where were our M&M’s?

4. Let’s Review
• What is a reinforcement
contingency?
– The response-contingent
presentation of a reinforcer
resulting in an increased
frequency of that response.
– Psychology class – The
response of attending class
resulted in the opportunity
for 20 participation points
and an opportunity to take a
quiz to earn another 20
points.
– Sociology class – NOTHING!

5. Let’s Review
• What is a punishment
contingency?
– Response-contingent
presentation of an aversive
condition resulting in a
decreased frequency of that
response.
– Pyschology class – The response
of not showing up to class
results in the loss of 20
participation points and loss of
the opportunity to take a quiz to
earn another 20 points.
– Sociology class – Thankfully,
nothing.

6. Let’s Review
• What is an aversive stimulus?
– A stimulus that increases the future frequency of a
response. Its removal (termination) follows.
– Psychology class – loss of 20 participation points
and loss of 20 possible quiz points.
– Sociology class – You guessed it, nothing.

7. We all know how limited a students time can be.
For Maria, not going to Sociology class provided her
with more time to study for her Psychology class.
This reduced the fear of not earning points in her
Psychology class.

8. Ineffective Natural Contingency

9. The more Sociology classes Maria attended the higher
her exam grade was, and vice versa.
Exam 1 Exam 2
63% attendance 50% attendance
Exam grade = 88% (BA) Exam grade = 70% (C)
Maria earned a low grade on her second exam. 
She decided to do something about it.

10. Data Collection
Baseline
Class Date Attendance Class Date Attendance
(Y[yes] / N[no]) (Y[yes] / N[no])
09/06/11 Y 10/06/11 N
09/08/11 Y 10/11/11 Y
09/13/11 N 10/13/11 N
09/15/11 N 10/18/11 N
09/20/11 Y 10/20/11 Y
09/22/11 N 10/25/11 Y (quiz)
09/27/11 Y (quiz) 10/27/11 EXAM -YES
09/29/11 Y
10/04/11 EXAM – YES

11. Intervention
Maria and her fiancé Kyle each had $25 per
week worth of “fun” money.
$50
$25 $25

12. Intervention
Rule
(a description of a behavioral contingency)
For every Sociology class Maria does not attend,
she will owe Kyle $5 from her “fun” money.
(Total of $10 a week)

13. G 1. 90% (grade A) or higher on
her last two exams
O 2. 100% class attendance
A
L

14. Ineffective Natural Contingency
Natural Competing Contingency
Inferred Theoretical Contingency

15. Data Collection
Intervention 1
Class Date Attendance
(Y[yes] / N[no])
11/01/11 Y
11/03/11 Y
11/08/11 N
11/10/11 Y
11/15/11 Y (quiz)
11/17/11 EXAM -YES

16. Exam 3
Exam grade = 92% (A)
Not quite…….
80% attendance
Almost there

17. What’s the problem?!
• The Exam grade made a significant increase,
an met the first goal set in place.
• Attendance on the other hand, did not meet
the second goal set in place.

18. What’s the problem?
• Where there other conflicting contingencies?
• Was the avoidance-of-a-loss of a reinforcer
ineffective?
• Analysis……………
Losing $5 of the $25 was not that aversive.
Maria still had $15-$20 to spend.
• Let’s recycle the previous steps and replace
the current contingency with one that is a little
more aversive.

19. Intervention
I will not receive my $25 of “fun” money on Friday unless I
attended both scheduled class times each week.
My receipt of $25 was contingent on 100% attendance each
week.

20. Data Collection
Intervention 2
Class Date Attendance
(Y[yes] / N[no])
11/22/11 Y
11/24/11 Y
11/29/11 Y
12/01/11 Y
12/06/11 Y (quiz)
12/08/11 EXAM - YES

21. Final Results
Exam 4
Exam grade = 97%
100% Attendance