A Matter of Timing

The timing of reinforcements is essential to the training process. Remember that the habitual mind is learning via this feedback mechanism. The closer the reinforcement is to the behavior, the faster the association will be made, and the quicker the neural circuits will form. A computer mouse is exceptionally intuitive to learn because it responds instantly to the movement of our hand. A rebate that you need to mail in is far less reinforcing than a sticker on the package that you can redeem at the register. “We have a naïve belief in the power of words to cover up our lapses in timing,” Pryor explains.

When we reinforce behavior too quickly, we train the subject to not complete the behavior. Returning to the example of teaching a puppy to come, let’s say that you call the puppy and he starts running toward you. You get excited and say “Good boy” before he gets all the way to you. The puppy sits down three feet away from you.

Salespeople routinely reinforce prematurely. For example, in trying to win a large contract, a salesperson might take potential clients to special events, nice restaurants, and golf outings. The client is reinforced for not purchasing. As soon as the purchase is decided, the nice things go away, turning the purchase into a punishment.

We must also remember that the cookie needs to come after the behavior. We are often tempted to show the reward to encourage behavior. This is bribery. Our goal is to establish habits, and bribery works with the executive, not the habitual, mind.

However, our biggest problem is delayed reinforcement. Our paychecks are a good example, often coming so far after the behavior being reinforced that little connection exists between what we are doing and what we are getting paid for. Worse, the annual review process seeks to somehow improve our performance by waiting a year to tell us what we are doing wrong or right.

Most loyalty programs introduce long delays between behavior and cookie. My primary airline requires 25,000 miles to earn a domestic ticket, 50,000 miles if I want to use points for international travel. The insurance industry faces the daunting task of selling a product whose reinforcer might not come for years, if ever. Companies that have long delays between behavior and cookie need to create intermediary reinforcement, a type of cue that signals you are on the right track. Allstate has a good driver policy that reinforces safe driving. By rebating money, the company creates an annual cookie for its best customers.