Premack’s research into the Premack Principle emerged from his 1959 research on the “rate-differential” or “probability-differential” effect. In contrast, Premack’s view establishes that animals have a preference ordering of responses, and stronger responses will reinforce weaker responses (Knapp, 1974). For example, a pigeon conditioned to seek pellets will always see pellets as a reinforcer, regardless of their abundance. Prior to the Premack Principle, behaviorists believed that reinforcers had a so-called trans-situational nature, and something that is a reinforcer in one context will always be a reinforcer. For example, to use the homework example, a child allowed to go to the park excessively is less likely to do their homework (Knapp, 1974). Behavior in itself can reinforce behavior, and the presence of a high-probability behavior can make a low-probability behavior more likely.įor example, an unstudious young child may be incentivized to do their homework (a normally low-probability behavior) if their parent tells them that they can go to the park afterwards (something that the child is likely to want to do on their own).Ĭonversely, the Premack Principle predicts that the presence of a high-frequency behavior above baseline will discourage the low-frequency behavior. The Premack Principle states that more probable behaviors will reinforce less probable behaviors. Although the Premack Principle has been criticized for a number of reasons, its derivative, response deprivation theory, still holds great influence in the psychology of learning.David Premack established his theory through experiments on rats, children, and later chimpanzees.such as eating chocolate) can be used to reinforce a less desirable one (such as writing an essay). The Premack Principle, also called the relativity theory of reinforcement, and the differential-probability hypothesis, states that a more desirable activity (e.g.
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