Non-contingent reinforcement involves giving the learner what they want on a fixed or variable time schedule, completely independent of their behaviour. Think of it as filling up their cup before they feel the need to ask for it inappropriately.

You use NCR when a learner frequently engages in challenging behaviour to get attention. By providing high-quality attention every five minutes (or whatever schedule you determine), you eliminate the motivation to engage in the challenging behaviour. It works because the learner learns they don't need to work hard or act out to get your attention - it is freely available.

However, a common clinical challenge is what to do if the challenging behaviour is actively occurring when the timer rings. To prevent adventitious (accidental) reinforcement, practitioners should briefly delay the delivery by 5 to 10 seconds of calm, appropriate behaviour. Another common error is using a schedule that is too lean. If the baseline rate of the behaviour is every three minutes, your initial NCR schedule needs to be more frequent than that, perhaps every two minutes.

Implementation

Determine the baseline rate of the target behaviour to set your initial time schedule.

Set a timer for the determined interval.

When the timer goes off, provide the reinforcer (e.g., specific praise, physical interaction) immediately.

If challenging behaviour is actively occurring when the timer rings, briefly delay delivery (e.g., wait for 5-10 seconds of calm behaviour) to avoid accidentally reinforcing the problem behaviour.

Gradually increase the time interval between reinforcement deliveries as the challenging behaviour decreases.

Common Mistakes

Starting with a time interval that is longer than the baseline rate of the behaviour.

Delivering the reinforcer immediately while challenging behaviour is actively occurring, which accidentally reinforces it, instead of applying a brief delay.

Failing to fade the schedule over time, leading to prompt dependency on the timer.