Advanced Technical IVT

DRH schedule

Also written as: DRH — Differential Reinforcement of High rates

A reinforcement schedule that provides rewards only when behaviors occur at or above a specified rate or frequency.

Full Definition

DRH (Differential Reinforcement of High rates) is a reinforcement schedule used to increase the frequency or rate of desired behaviors. Under this schedule, reinforcement is delivered only when the target behavior occurs at or above a predetermined criterion rate within a specified time period. This technique is particularly useful for increasing behaviors that are occurring but at insufficient frequencies, such as academic responding, work productivity, or social interactions. DRH schedules are commonly implemented in educational and therapeutic settings to build behavioral fluency and automaticity. The criterion rate is typically set just above the current baseline level and gradually increased as performance improves.

Usage

Usage note: Often confused with DRL (Differential Reinforcement of Low rates) which serves the opposite function of reducing behavior frequency.

In Context

"The teacher implemented a DRH schedule to increase the student's rate of math problem completion." — Educational intervention plan
"Data collection for the DRH schedule requires precise measurement of response rate per session." — Behavior analyst training materials

Also known as

high-rate reinforcement schedule frequency-based reinforcement

Contrasted with

DRL schedule rate reduction schedule

Don't confuse with

DRL schedule DRO schedule

discriminative stimulus ← Back to glossary DRL schedule