Premack’s principle

In this article, I invite you to discover a powerful tool, the Premack’s principle. Commonly used by Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) professionals, Premack's Principle states that high probable behavior can reinforce low probable behavior. This application is all around us and understanding the principle can be an invaluable tool for pet owners.

What is a reinforcer?

A reinforcer is a stimulus that increases the likelihood of a behavior occurring and makes that behavior more frequent (faster, more frequent, or higher, for example, depending on the type of behavior).

Thus, if the individuals are "rewarded", the behaviors are "reinforced".

There are several types of reinforcers. Knowing them can help us understand their importance in a process of behavior modification.

Primary reinforcers: do not depend on an association with another reinforcer: food, water, hot when cold, cold when hot, sexual stimulation and contact are potential primary reinforcers.

Control over one's environment is a primary reinforcer for any individual, just like food, water, sex, etc.

Secondary reinforcers: depend on an association with a primary (or secondary) reinforcer: praises, hugs, claps, toys are potential secondary reinforcers.

Primary and secondary reinforcers can be classified into two categories: natural reinforcers or artificial (contrives) reinforcers.

Artificial reinforcers are those that are put in place by a person to modify a behavior.

Natural reinforcers are those who have an "automatic" and natural reinforcing power after a behavior.

Primary or secondary reinforcers can therefore fall into one or the other of the categories depending on whether they were placed there to modify a behavior or whether the reinforcer is spontaneously a consequence of a behavior. For example, if you watch a comedy movie that makes you laugh, the fun will be a natural reinforcer. On the other hand, if your spouse tells you how pretty you look when you laugh, in order to see you smile more often, it is an artificial reinforcer.

What are the reinforcers of the Premack’s principle?

David Premack (1925, 2015), Professor Emeritus of Psychology, defined a different approach to reinforcers. While they are usually thought of as external stimuli/events, Premack suggested that they could be behaviors.

Thus, instead of considering the activities and behaviors that our animals like and often emit (and that we would like to modify) as undesirable behaviors, we can see and consider them as possible solid and powerful reinforcers.

A simplified definition of Premack's principle states that "high probability behavior reinforces low probability behavior".

If, for example, I like the behavior "smoking" and that I frequently engage in this behavior (high probability) and that the behavior "wainting before smoking" (low probability) - it would be necessary first of all to operationalize "wainting" - is the one I want to see happen more often, I can reinforce that patience with a cigarette. The more time passes, the more effective the “waiting” behavior will be, always with the “smoking a cigarette” behavior as a reinforcer. By working in this way, it is not the “smoking” behavior that will increase but the one that is reinforced: waiting.

However, if I am sick, bedridden with bronchitis and angina, the high probability behavior will certainly be to wait before smoking.

For my dog, if the behavior of sitting next to me when he sees a friend at the park is low probability and the behavior running towards the other dog at the speed of light is high probability, I can reinforce the first with the second. So, sitting next to me is a behavior that will increase, reinforced by the opportunity to run after his canine friend.

Or another example, if I want to maintain or increase my behavior of writing a chapter of my new book every day (low probability when the inspiration is not present), I can reinforce this behavior by looking at an episode of my current series on Netflix (almost always high probability behavior for me!).

However, if I am bewitched by the spirit of a fast and inspired writer, then the writing behavior will certainly be stronger than that of binge-watching.

What are the limits of the Premack principle?

The activities and behaviors that each individual finds reinforcing change and evolve all the time.

Therefore, different behaviors may have different reinforcing values depending on the context.

The bottom line is that a behavior can be reinforced simply because it provides the opportunity to perform another preferred behavior.

In response to Premack's work and some of the limitations his principle reaches, Timberlake and Allison (1974, 1980) proposed a variation called "Response Deprivation Theory".

The main dimension of this theory is that the behavior becomes reinforcing only when the individual is deprived of engaging in the higher probability behavior.

For example, if I watch Disney+ (Disney movie streaming service) about 4 hours a day, this behavior will only serve as a reinforcer if I am deprived of it for part of it (let's say an hour a day). So if I'm deprived of watching my streaming platform at the usual rate, I'm more likely to use "watching Disney+" as a reinforcer to "write a chapter of my new book."

It's the same for our pets. If I live in the countryside and my dog ​​runs after mice freely in the garden all day, this behavior will less serve as a reinforcer than if I decrease his access to the garden.

Using hunting opportunities to learn preferred behaviors can be valuable for dogs whose predatory activities seem like fun.

My dog ​​is a hunter and his behaviors are reinforced by access to a hunting activity (for him, running after an animal).

I sometimes use the Premack principle to help me in his education and the management of his hunting behaviors.

For example, when we come down from the forest on the downhill path, and he is on a leash, Marley tends to pull at the end of his 15-meter long line to get access to the sheep pen more quickly, surprise them behind the fence suddenly and make them run all along the fence, running after them. It's a big stress for the sheep and it's a big stress for me who almost falls all the time.

Using the Premack Principle here allows me to reinforce behavior that suits and pleases me through access to the activity that Marley enjoys. I ask him to walk beside my feet until I reach a level of the path where I'm less likely to fall and, when I reach the level of the sheep that may have seen us coming, I give him a release signal which invites him to emit the behaviors he wants: he runs towards the fence. The sheep being much less surprised (and accustomed to this weirdo), they run less quickly and less frantically, but Marley's heeling behavior is maintained over time, proving the effectiveness of this reinforcement.

However, I would never use this type of reinforcement if Marley's behaviors had the function (or if he had the possibility) of catching and killing an animal when we are outside.

Premack's principle for which behaviors?

Generally speaking, behaviors that generate too much stress in the individual or on his environment should not be used in this context.

The strategy for using the Premack Principle should be ad hoc and, preferably, implemented only after having already reduced the baseline frequency of the target behavior.

To start applying the Premack principle, a simple and effective idea is to make a list of all the behaviors that the target individual emits, from the most probable on the left column to the least probable on the right column. I got this awesome idea from Katy Sdao.

For example, watching TV is a high-probability behavior (I engage in this behavior on an average of 2 hours a day) which I rank in the left column. Doing training sessions with my dog ​​is currently a low probability behavior that I would like to increase, to which I hardly allow half a dozen minutes a day; I therefore classify this behavior in the right column.

Another example, my parrot loves going to the outdoor aviary and spends several periods in front of the window that leads there each day (left column), but does not really appreciate going into her transport box (right column). I can then teach my parrot that entering the transport box will be a behavior reinforced by access to the outdoor aviary.

In these two examples, there is a behavior in the left column (high probability) and a behavior in the right column (low probability).

With the principle of Premack, I will be able to select the behaviors on the left as being the reinforcers of the behaviors on the right.

 Factually, I limit my television consumption to 1 hour a day instead of the two currently. On the other hand, as soon as I do a training session with my dog, I reinforce this behavior with half an hour of television.

I limit my access to my online game to 45 minutes a day (instead of around 1h30 on average). On the other hand, as soon as I have written a new lesson for my course, I reinforce this behavior with 5 minutes of online games.

Here are some examples for using the Premack’s Principle with dogs or parrots.

A reinforcer increasing the probability of appearance of a behavior, the phenomenon that will happen here is that thanks of reinforcement, the behaviors of the right column (low probability) will go up the ladder, up to, sometimes, reaching the behaviors of the left column.

This means that thanks to this Premack’s principle, today, training my dog and working on the computer, which were low probability behaviors, have become high probability behaviors.

Conclusion

Making preferred behaviors contingent on less-prefered behaviors increases their likelihood of occurrence.

The Premack’s principle is a great tool. The expression "win-win" takes on its full meaning in its use. Our animals can emit the behaviors that they naturally like and we can make them contingent on the behaviors that are part of a harmonious life with our pets.

Of course, not all behaviors are acceptable as reinforcers.

For example, if violently attacking and biting my husband in the face is a high probability behavior for my parrot, I would never use this behavior as a reinforcer.

Behaviors that are dangerous or generate high stress for the individual or his environment do not make good reinforcers, from a behavioral and most of all ethical point of view.

Premack's principle therefore concerns reinforcers in the form of behaviors.

But the reality is certainly that each reinforcer is an example of the Premack principle.

Eating is a behavior. So whenever we ask our animals to perform a behavior on cue and we reinforce that behavior with food, we are also applying the Premack’s principle!

Give the paw => eat a treat 😊