Within Organisational Behaviour Management the ABC-model is used to analyse and explain observable behaviour. It is a fundamental in the OBM protocol to change behaviour. The ABC-model consists out of the components:
The underlying premise is that our behaviour is influenced by events, circumstances, and objects prior to our behaviour. Future behaviour is largely determined by our brain based on the consequences, compared to our current behaviour.
Antecedents provoke behaviour prior to any behaviour. Antecedents can be objects, actions of other people, emotions and thoughts, work instructions, or objects or signs.
There is no causal relation between antecedents and behaviour. Meaning, antecedents do not trigger behaviour. If so, we would never drive above the maximum speed that the sign along the highway tells us. Would we always follow the work instruction as intended. The weakness of antecedents are that they can be ignored. Although antecedents play an important role in changing behaviour, it is not the holy grail to add, remove, or change antecedents.
The definition of a consequence is: "an event that is the response of a behaviour and that influences the chance that the behaviour will repeat". Without consequences an antecedent have no or just limited effect. Consequences determine if future behaviour will change or not.
Consequences are often a direct result of our behaviour. As a type the keys on my keyboard the words will become visible in my digital document. When I call for an elevator by pressing a button, the result is often delayed. Consequences can have a social character as well. The compliment an employee gets form a client is an example of a social consequence.
Consequences are prime learning material for people. The remembrance of a consequence of earlier behaviour acts as an antecedent of future behaviour. For example. The last time I went to restaurant A I had a really good meal. When I am searching a restaurant for a night out with my friends, that memory will be part of my considerations for a restaurant to choose from.
Four types of consequences exists. Each type has a label - how people experience the consequence -, an abbreviation in OBM constructs, and the effect on behaviour. The notion of positive and negative used in the labels refers to addition (+) and subtraction (-). It does not refer to an emotional value.
| Consequence | Label | Abbreviation | Effect on behaviour |
|---|---|---|---|
| You get / experience what you want | Positive Reinforcement | R+ | Increases |
| You don't get / experience what you don't want | Negative Reinforcement, escape | R- | Increases |
| You get / experience what you don't want | Positive Punishment | P+ | Decreases |
| You lose something you don't want to lose | Negative Punishment | P- | Decreases |
In short, positive meaningful consequences increase the chance of repetition of the shown behaviour. Negative meaningful consequences decrease the chance of repetition of the shown behaviour.
A reinforcer is a consequence of behaviour that either increases the frequency of that behaviour, or maintains it frequency in the future. The reinforcer differs from a reward. A reinforcer only originates as consequence of the specific behaviour. It has a positive connotation for the performer. Rewards, however, are typically seen as positive by the one giving. The person handing out the reward hopes that the reward acts a motivator to repeat the behaviour.
Positive reinforcement is when the result of a specific behaviour, makes you want to repeat that behaviour. This can only be seen from the perspective of the performer. Only when the performer sees the consequences as positive and the performance increases, we can describe it as a positive reinforcer. If not, the consequence of specific behaviour is most likely seen as punishment by the performer.
Examples of positive reinforcements are:
Within negative reinforcement a performer displays behaviour to remove the negative (aversive) stimulus. Often this is to prevent an undesired future situation.
For example, seeing a red light makes a performer reduce the speeds of the car to prevent an accident. The thought of a possible accident is the negative stimulus here. The desire to escape a possible accident makes the perform to reduce that future possibility by decelerating the car.
Another example, is a student that has a deadline for some homework. In order to prevent a bad grade for its class, the student does its homework. Reducing the chance of a bad grade consequence.
Negative reinforcers can either be escape behaviour or avoid behaviour. Behaviours of escape are to stop punishment. Examples of escaping are opening a sunscreen when the sun prevents monitors to be seen well. Smoking a cigarette can be an escape of the daily hassles for a short moment. Avoiding can be refilling the coffee machine to prevent support calls from colleagues, doing the work without filling all registration forms.
Examples of negative reinforcement are:
We feel punished if our behaviour leads to consequences that we don't want to experience or want to get. Getting or experiencing punishment leads to stopping the behaviour that caused the punishment. As a side effect it can cause other behaviours to be stopped or reduced as well, including those behaviours that we do want to see.
OBM defines punishment as an individual receives a (typically unpleasant) stimulus contingent on a response, resulting in a decrease in the future probability of that response.
Punishment only works if the negative effects of this consequence outweighs the original reinforcer. For some people getting a single fine for speeding on the highway will cause them to change their behaviour, others need more or different form of punishment to get them to change their behaviour.
Importantly, punishment often only temporarily suppresses the undesired behaviour. Once the punishment stops, the previous behaviour will bubble up again.
Sometimes an action leads to the loss of something valuable. Something you'd rather keep. These penalties come in two forms. First, as a direct and automated response on your behaviour. Secondly, because something valuable is taken away from you. If a performer learns that a behaviour causes to lose a valuable thing, the behaviour will be reduced or stopped.
This is called extinction: a decrease in behaviour due to its no longer producing reinforcers contingent on that behaviour.