Use differential reinforcement to increase desired behavior while reducing unwanted behavior
Reinforce the behavior you want while withholding reinforcement from the one you don’t — at the same time.
Why it works
Differential reinforcement of alternative or incompatible behavior (DRA/DRI) is more effective than extinction alone because it fills the behavioral vacuum. When a reinforced alternative is available, the extinction of the old behavior is faster, the extinction burst is smaller, and the person has something to do instead. Incompatible behaviors (behaviors that physically cannot occur simultaneously with the target) are particularly effective substitutes.
How to do it
- Identify the unwanted behavior and its maintaining reinforcer.
- Find an alternative behavior that serves the same function and that you want to increase.
- Deliver the reinforcer only for the alternative, never for the unwanted behavior.
- Choose an incompatible alternative where possible ("I can’t scroll my phone and do push-ups at the same time").
Evidence
Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior has substantial support in applied behavior analysis and is a standard first-line intervention for problem behaviors. Petscher, Rey, and Bailey’s (2009) review of the empirical literature consolidated this support, documenting DRA’s effectiveness across a wide range of behaviors and settings. (clinical)
Selecting functionally equivalent alternatives requires a proper functional assessment; guessing the function leads to ineffective procedures.
Sources
Common mistake
Choosing an alternative that does not serve the same function as the unwanted behavior — a person who eats when anxious will not substitute exercise unless the anxiety is also addressed.
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More practices for Operant Conditioning and Schedules of Reinforcement
- Design a genuine positive reinforcer for the target behavior
Identify something that genuinely increases your likelihood of repeating the behavior — not what should work, but what actually does.
- Use variable-ratio reinforcement to make habits persistent
Once a behavior is established, shift to an unpredictable reward schedule to make it resistant to extinction.
- Shape complex behaviors through successive approximations
Reinforce progressively closer approximations to the target behavior rather than waiting for the full behavior to appear.
- Extinguish unwanted behaviors by removing their reinforcement
Stop a behavior by consistently withholding the reinforcer that maintains it — not by punishing it.
- Make consequences immediate to bridge the reward delay problem
The closer in time a consequence follows a behavior, the stronger its effect on that behavior.
- Modify antecedents to trigger behavior before it depends on motivation
Change the cues that precede a behavior to make it more or less likely to occur.
Related concepts
- Atomic Habits, Made Practical
The four laws, the real mechanisms, and where the science is strong
- Classical Conditioning and Habit Triggers
How neutral cues become powerful habit triggers — and how to use that fact
- The Power of Habit, Made Practical
The habit loop, craving, keystone habits, and an honest read on the science