Satiation
A temporary decrease in how effective a reinforcer is, caused by recent contact with a lot of that reinforcer; it also makes behavior that produces it less likely.
Satiation happens when a person has recently had plenty of something, so it is temporarily worth less to them. A child who has just eaten a bag of chips is less likely to work for chips, and behavior that has earned chips in the past becomes less likely right now. Satiation is an abolishing operation, a type of motivating operation.
Satiation is temporary and specific to the reinforcer involved. The child who is full of chips may still work hard for a toy or for time outside. After some time without chips, their value returns.
Satiation is one reason reinforcer effectiveness can change within a session. Signs include slower responding, turning away from the item, or refusing it. RBTs reduce the risk by following the planned amount of each reinforcer, rotating among several preferred items, and using brief preference checks if the plan includes them. Generalized conditioned reinforcers such as tokens are less affected by satiation because they can be exchanged for many things.
If a client seems satiated on the reinforcers in the plan, the RBT tells the supervisor rather than inventing a new reinforcement system.
Example and non-example
| Example | Early in the session a child works quickly for bites of pretzel. After eating many pretzels, they push the bowl away and stop responding. The RBT offers the plan's other preferred items and notes the change for the supervisor. |
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| Non-example | A child stops responding after the RBT stops delivering pretzels for correct answers. The pretzels are still valuable; the behavior is decreasing because it is no longer reinforced, which is extinction, not satiation. |
Don't confuse it with
| Deprivation | Deprivation is going without a reinforcer, which raises its value; satiation is having had a lot of it, which lowers its value. |
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| Extinction | Extinction is withholding the reinforcer for a behavior; with satiation the reinforcer is still delivered but is temporarily worth less. |
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 client picks a tablet first in a morning MSWO. After using the tablet for 40 minutes at lunch, the client picks a puzzle first in an afternoon MSWO. Which process best explains the change?
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A: Satiation. Satiation is a decrease in the value of a reinforcer after recent extended access to it. Long tablet use temporarily lowered its value, so the client chose something else.
- B: Extinction means a previously reinforced behavior no longer produces reinforcement.
- C: Deprivation, a period without access, increases an item's value.
- D: Stimulus generalization is responding to new stimuli similar to the original; it does not explain lower value after use.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 3Why are edible items in a paired-stimulus assessment usually given in small pieces?
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D: To limit satiation during the assessment. Small portions give the client a taste without filling them up, so the value of food stays relatively stable across many trials.
- A: Counting pieces is not the reason for portion size.
- B: Items are meant to look like themselves so the client can tell them apart.
- C: Small portions limit satiation; they do not create deprivation.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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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.