Which term describes an environmental event that increases the value of a consequence, making the consequence more effective?

Which term describes an environmental event that increases the value of a consequence, making the consequence more effective?

• A. Motivating Operation
• B. Establishing Operation
• C. Stimulus Control
• D. Abolishing Operation

Answer: (B)

Motivational operations shape how valuable a consequence is at a given moment. An establishing operation increases the reinforcing value of a consequence, making it more effective and more likely to reinforce the behavior that produced it. Hunger is a classic example: when you’re deprived of food, food becomes more valuable, so the behavior that leads to obtaining food is more likely to occur. In contrast, an abolishing operation would reduce the value of the consequence and lessen its influence. Stimulus control involves cues that signal when a behavior will be reinforced, not the changing value of the reinforcer itself. The broad concept that covers both increasing and decreasing value is the motivating operation.

Motivational operations shape how valuable a consequence is at a given moment. An establishing operation increases the reinforcing value of a consequence, making it more effective and more likely to reinforce the behavior that produced it. Hunger is a classic example: when you’re deprived of food, food becomes more valuable, so the behavior that leads to obtaining food is more likely to occur. In contrast, an abolishing operation would reduce the value of the consequence and lessen its influence. Stimulus control involves cues that signal when a behavior will be reinforced, not the changing value of the reinforcer itself. The broad concept that covers both increasing and decreasing value is the motivating operation.