ABSTRACT
This chapter explains motivation relates to the fact that a given primary reinforcer may be effective sometimes and ineffective at other times for a given individual. A variable that affects the effectiveness of a primary reinforcer is called a motivational variable. Motivation is often thought of as something that is within an individual, but it is more accurately seen as a relation between the individual's behavior and some prior event or occurrence. In applied settings, a technology of motivation called motivating operations is designed to alter the effectiveness of positive and negative reinforcers. A variables that affect the strength of positive reinforcers is called appetitive motivation. In addition, the members of each class are often conglomerate reinforcers in that they are composed of other reinforcers. The incentive contrast, can be readily appreciated by anyone who has ever been disappointed when a favorable outcome followed an effort that usually had an even better result.
