ABSTRACT
This chapter describes differential reinforcement procedures for decreasing response rates. Differential reinforcement schedules or procedures are schedules that reinforce specific rates of responding. They may be used to reinforce high or low response rates. Differential reinforcement of low rates (DRL) is a schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is presented only if a particular response occurs at a low rate. One type of DRL schedule, called limited-responding DRL, specifies a maximum allowable number of responses during a certain time interval in order for a reinforcer to occur. Differential reinforcement of zero responding is a schedule in which a reinforcer is presented only if a specified response does not occur during a specified period of time. An alternative to differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviour is differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, which is a procedure that involves the extinction of a problem behavior combined with reinforcing a behavior that is topographically dissimilar to but not necessarily incompatible with the problem behavior.
