Which term is a motivating operation that temporarily increases the effectiveness of a stimulus thereby evoking behavior?

• A. Ecological assessment
• B. Discriminated operant
• C. Abolishing operation
• D. Establishing operation

Answer: (D)

Motivating operations include establishing operations, which temporarily increase the effectiveness of a stimulus as a reinforcer and evoke behavior that has historically produced that stimulus. When an organism experiences deprivation, the value of the deprived stimulus rises in the moment, making the person more likely to engage in behaviors that have previously led to obtaining that stimulus. For example, hunger makes food more reinforcing, so behaviors aimed at obtaining or consuming food become more probable right now. This contrasts with abolishing operations, which temporarily reduce a stimulus’s reinforcing value (such as satiation reducing hunger’s influence). The other terms refer to different concepts: discriminated operants involve a stimulus that signals when a response will be reinforced, and ecological assessment is a method of observing behavior in natural environments. Thus, the term described is establishing operation.