Conditioned ReinforcerAย reinforcerย is any consequence or stimulus that, when pre... Moreย refers to a stimulusStimulusย is defined as any change in the environment or for... More that increases the likelihood of aย behaviorย occurring in the future because it has been paired with other reinforcers in the past. Unlike unconditioned reinforcers (such as food or water, which are inherently reinforcing), conditioned reinforcers acquire their reinforcing power through learning and association with other primary or secondary reinforcers.
Example
A token in a token economy system is a conditioned reinforcer. Initially, the token has no value to the learner. However, after being paired repeatedly with access to preferred items or activities (like a toy or extra recess time), the token itself becomes reinforcing. The learner will engage in the desiredย behaviorย (e.g., completing tasks) to earn tokens because they can later exchange them for something they want.