Deprivation
A period without access to a reinforcer, which temporarily increases its value and makes behavior that has produced it in the past more likely.
Deprivation means the person has gone without something for a while. Food is more reinforcing before lunch than after, and a tablet is more reinforcing when the client has not used it all day. Deprivation is an establishing operation, a type of motivating operation: it increases the reinforcing value of the item and evokes behavior that has produced that item before.
In practice, supervisors use mild, natural forms of deprivation to keep reinforcers effective. Common examples are saving a highly preferred toy for teaching sessions only, or scheduling instruction that uses snacks before rather than right after a meal. Naturalistic teaching relies on the learner's current motivation, which often reflects natural deprivation.
Deprivation in ABA never means withholding basic needs. Clients always have access to food, water, bathroom breaks, rest and other basic rights, and withholding them would be a serious ethical violation. An RBT follows only the reinforcer-access rules written by the supervisor and raises any concern about them.
Example and non-example
| Example | A child's favorite light-up toy is kept in the RBT's bag and used only during sessions. Because the child has not played with it since the last session, they respond eagerly for short turns with it. |
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| Non-example | A caregiver skips a child's lunch so the child will work harder for snacks. This is withholding a basic need, not an acceptable use of deprivation, and must be reported to the supervisor. |
Don't confuse it with
| Satiation | Satiation is recent heavy contact with a reinforcer, lowering its value; deprivation is going without it, raising its value. |
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| Negative punishment | Negative punishment removes a reinforcer after a behavior to decrease that behavior; deprivation is a condition that changes how valuable a reinforcer is. |
Test yourself
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Question 1Why are preference assessments repeated often, in some cases before each session?
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A: Preferences shift with satiation, deprivation, and time. The value of an item changes with motivating operations such as satiation and deprivation, and with time. Frequent brief assessments keep the team's list of likely reinforcers current.
- B: There is no BACB rule requiring a preference assessment every session; frequency is a clinical decision.
- C: Items lose value temporarily with satiation; it is not permanent.
- D: Teaching choice-making is not the purpose of repeating an assessment.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 2A teen who has not eaten since breakfast picks food items first in an afternoon preference assessment, though they usually pick music. Which statement best explains this?
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C: Deprivation increased the current value of food. Deprivation is an establishing operation: going without food temporarily increases its value as a reinforcer, so food is chosen more often.
- A: Satiation decreases an item's value.
- B: Extinction is not involved; music was simply less valuable than food at that moment.
- D: Nothing in the scenario punished choosing music.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 3A client has not had access to their favorite music since the morning. In the afternoon session, the client completes far more tasks than usual to earn the music. Which explanation fits best?
Show answer
D: Deprivation acting as an establishing operation. A period without a reinforcer (deprivation) is an establishing operation: it temporarily increases the value of that reinforcer and increases behavior that has produced it in the past.
- A: Satiation lowers a reinforcer's value and would reduce responding, not increase it.
- B: The music was already a reinforcer; nothing new was paired with it.
- C: Nothing in the situation describes a change in the reinforcement schedule.
Task C.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task C.1 Positive and negative reinforcement in content area C, Behavior Acquisition, which is 19 of the 75 scored questions.