Use What They Love: The Premack Principle in Your Classroom

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Use What They Love: The Premack Principle in Your Classroom

Educational Psychology · Chapter 3: Behavior, Conditioning, and Classroom ManagementSection 3.6 · lesson 24 of 1009 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

Grandma's Rule, made precise, and applied to reluctant learners.

  • State the Premack Principle and why reinforcers are relative
  • Conduct an informal preference assessment
  • Write contingencies using when-then framing
  • Apply the principle to students resistant to standard rewards

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (1,171 words). Read along, or search it.

Behavior, Conditioning, and Classroom Management

Use What They Love: The Premack Principle in Your Classroom

There is a student in every class who will not do the work. Praise does nothing. Points do nothing. Consequences do nothing. And then you notice they will spend forty minutes drawing. That observation is the entire content of this section. It is called the Premack Principle. We will cover what it says, and why reinforcers are personal rather than universal. We will look at how to frame a contingency so it motivates rather than threatens. And we will go through four steps for applying it. Including the one where teachers usually lose it. The principle is simple. Implementing it consistently is not.

The Principle

A Preferred Activity Can Be a Reinforcer

In nineteen fifty-nine, David Premack proposed a principle. A higher-probability behavior can be used to reinforce a lower-probability one. Put more plainly than that. If you want someone to do something tedious or difficult, pair it with access to something they already prefer to do. This reframes what a reinforcer even is. A reinforcer need not be an external reward like candy or a sticker. It can be any activity the person finds more desirable than the target behavior. Which vastly expands what is available to a teacher. You are no longer limited to things you can hand out. Anything a student would choose to do is now a possible reinforcer.

Relativity

Reinforcers Are Relative, Not Absolute

Premack's real insight was about relativity. Reinforcers are relative, not absolute. What functions as a reinforcer depends on the specific individual. And on the range of behaviors available to them at that moment. There is no universal list of things that reinforce children. A student who loves drawing can be motivated to finish math problems. Offer drawing time as the consequence, and the math gets done. Another student might be motivated by computer time. Or by social interaction, or by outdoor play. So the principle sets a requirement before it offers a technique. Teachers must know their students' preferences. A reinforcer chosen for the class average reinforces nobody in particular.

Grandma's Rule

Folk Wisdom, Formalized

The Premack Principle has a nickname. Grandma's Rule. That is because it formalizes a timeless parenting strategy. Eat your vegetables before you have dessert. Finish your homework before you watch television. Everyone already knows this works, which is a fair objection. So what does the formalization add? It places the intuitive approach inside a behavioral framework. Which makes it an empirically validated strategy rather than folk wisdom. And it tells you the conditions under which it works and fails. In classroom practice the implication is structural. Sequence lessons so that preferred activities follow less preferred ones. Not the reverse, which is what a timetable often does by accident.

When-Then

The Framing Changes the Result

How you say the contingency changes how well it works. The key is to make it clear, consistent, and positively framed. Compare two versions of the same rule. The first. You can't play until you finish your work. The second. When you finish your writing assignment, you can choose a computer activity. The contingency is identical in both. The framing is not. This is called when-then framing. It is more motivating and less confrontational than if-then framing. And research suggests it results in higher task engagement. Nothing changed except the words, which is worth noticing. The first version leads with what is being withheld. The second leads with what is available.

Key Idea

Knowing What They Love Is the Toolkit

So here is the key idea. Any preferred activity can serve as a reinforcer for a less preferred one. Which means knowing what your students love is a genuine toolkit. A toolkit for motivating engagement with challenging content. It is especially valuable for reluctant learners. Those are the students for whom generic praise stopped working long ago. And for whom standard reward systems have already failed. Notice what the teacher's job becomes here. It is diagnostic before it is motivational. You cannot design the contingency until you know what the student would choose. So the work starts with paying attention, not with a plan.

Reluctant Learners

When Nothing Standard Is Working

The Premack Principle is particularly powerful with students who resist. Students who appear unmotivated, or who consistently avoid academic tasks. The approach has two moves. First, observe. Conduct an informal preference assessment. That can be as simple as watching what students choose during free time. You are looking for high-probability behaviors, and they announce themselves. Second, structure. Make access to those preferred activities contingent. Contingent on completing the academic work. Some people hear coercion in that description, so consider what is happening. The approach is individualized, and it is non-coercive. It aligns with self-determination theory's emphasis on intrinsic motivation. And nothing is taken away that the student already had.

The Evidence

Where the Principle Has Been Tested

The evidence base here is unusually broad. Research in applied behavior analysis has tested this consistently. It works with typically developing students. It works with students with autism spectrum disorder. It works with students with intellectual disabilities. And it works with students with behavioral challenges. That range is what makes it a principle rather than a technique. The applications extend well beyond school. Professional development. Athletic coaching. Organizational behavior. Anywhere that motivating a less preferred task is the problem. The structure is always the same, only the preferences change.

In Practice

Mr. Okafor and the Reading Nook

Here is the principle in one fifth-grade classroom. Mr. Okafor teaches English language arts. He notices something students are already doing. Many of them rush through writing assignments to reach the reading nook. The nook is a high-probability behavior. They choose it freely. So he restructures the afternoon block around that fact. Students who complete their writing with at least three complete paragraphs earn fifteen minutes in the nook. Completion rates increase dramatically within one week. Now notice what he did not do. He did not add a reward, or buy anything, or set up a points economy. The nook already existed, and students already wanted it. All he changed was what it followed.

Contingencies

Target Behavior, Reinforcer, Framing

The pattern generalizes cleanly across subjects. Target behavior, reinforcer, and when-then framing. Complete ten math problems, and the reinforcer is an educational computer game. When you finish ten problems, you may play the math game. Write a three-paragraph essay, and the reinforcer is free choice reading. When your essay has three paragraphs, you can choose your reading. Participate in class discussion, and the reinforcer is a project leader role. When you contribute twice today, you may choose your project role. Complete assigned reading, and the reinforcer is independent drawing time. When you finish your reading, drawing time is yours. Every one of those sentences starts with when. That is not decoration.

Four Steps

Applying It Without It Failing

Four steps to applying this without it collapsing. One. Conduct a preference assessment. Observe, or simply ask. Two. Identify the target academic behaviors that need strengthening. Three. Frame the contingencies positively, in when-then language. Four. Be consistent. The preferred activity must genuinely follow the target behavior. Every time, during initial implementation. That fourth step is where these systems usually fail. A contingency honored most of the time teaches something specific. It teaches that the work is optional, and the reward comes anyway. Once students have learned that, restoring the contingency is expensive. Far more expensive than keeping it would have been.

About Educational Psychology at UPI Study

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Educational Psychology carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Use What They Love: The Premack Principle in Your Classroom

What is the Premack Principle?
The Premack Principle, proposed by David Premack in 1959, states that a higher-probability behavior can be used to reinforce a lower-probability one. In other words, access to something a person already prefers to do can motivate a less preferred task. A reinforcer does not have to be candy or a sticker; it can be any activity the person finds more desirable than the target behavior.
Why is the Premack Principle called Grandma's Rule?
The Premack Principle is nicknamed Grandma's Rule because it formalizes a familiar parenting strategy: eat your vegetables before you have dessert, or finish homework before watching television. Placing it in a behavioral framework turns folk wisdom into an empirically tested strategy and clarifies when it works. In class, it means sequencing lessons so preferred activities follow less preferred ones.
What is when-then framing?
When-then framing states a contingency by leading with what the student can earn, such as when you finish your writing assignment, you can choose a computer activity. The rule is the same as saying you can't play until you finish your work, but leading with what is available rather than what is withheld is more motivating and less confrontational. Research suggests positively framed contingencies lead to higher task engagement.
How do you use the Premack Principle with an unmotivated student?
Start with an informal preference assessment: watch what the student chooses during free time, or ask. Then make access to that preferred activity contingent on completing the academic task, stated in when-then language. Consistency is critical, especially at first; the preferred activity must reliably follow the target behavior, or the student learns the work is optional and the reward comes anyway.

About the Educational Psychology course

How many college credits is Educational Psychology?
Educational Psychology (Psychology 120) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Educational Psychology cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 100 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
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UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
How long does Educational Psychology take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 100 lessons total about 15 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
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