Differential reinforcement
Definition
The balance of rewards and punishments, anticipated or actual, that follow a behaviour. If the expected rewards outweigh expected costs, the behaviour is more likely. Reinforcement can be social (peer approval, money) or non-social (the physiological effect of a drug).
Related terms
- Definitions (social learning)
- Attitudes or rationalisations that frame a behaviour as acceptable, justified, or necessary. In Akers's model, a high ratio of favourable-to-unfavourable definitions toward...
- Differential association
- Sutherland's concept that criminal behaviour results from an excess of associations with pro-criminal definitions over anti-criminal definitions. The learning depends on the...
- Imitation
- Modelling one's behaviour on observed actions of others, especially admired or high-status individuals. Akers added imitation to Sutherland's original framework, explaining initial...
- Pro-criminal definitions
- Attitudes, values, or verbal rationalisations that make law-breaking seem acceptable or desirable. Examples include neutralisation techniques (denying the victim, appealing to higher...
- Social learning theory (Akers)
- The reformulation of differential association in behavioural terms by Ronald Akers and Robert Burgess (1966). It integrates differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement,...
Explained in
- Social Learning and Differential AssociationThe balance of rewards and punishments, anticipated or actual, that follow a behaviour. If the expected rewards outweigh expected costs, the behaviour is more...