Certified Behavior Consultant Canine – Knowledge Assessed (CBCC-KA) Practice Test

Differential reinforcement strengthens a desired alternative or incompatible behavior by delivering reinforcement for that behavior while withholding reinforcement for the undesired one. This approach shifts the learner’s response toward an option that is more appropriate or cannot occur at the same time as the problem behavior, which helps reduce the unwanted behavior over time. Two common DR procedures are differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior (DRI), which reinforces a behavior that cannot occur simultaneously with the problem behavior, and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA), which reinforces a viable alternative that serves the same function as the problem behavior. This combination—reinforcing the acceptable or incompatible behavior while not reinforcing the undesired one—captures what differential reinforcement is and how these two procedures operate.