Behavioral Contrast
In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), behavioral contrast occurs when the rate of a behavior changes in one situation due to a change in reinforcement in another situation. Essentially, behavior may increase in the unchanged setting when reinforcement is reduced or removed in the other setting.
Example: A child receives praise for raising their hand in math class, but if praise is removed during English class, the child raises their hand even more frequently in math to access more reinforcement.
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