Differential Reinforcement in ABA Explained

In the field of behavioral health, differential reinforcement in ABA is one of the most effective and compassionate behavior reduction strategies available. Rooted in the principles of positive behavior support, this approach focuses on reinforcing appropriate behaviors while minimizing reinforcement for challenging ones. Whether you’re working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities or clients facing other behavioral challenges, differential reinforcement offers a structured, evidence-based path to meaningful change.

What is differential reinforcement in ABA?

Although the name of the strategy may be misleading, differential reinforcement is often used for decreasing problem behavior. However, since it works by reinforcing behaviors that are alternative to or incompatible with the problem behavior, certain types of differential reinforcement work to increase desirable behaviors as well.

Types of differential reinforcement in ABA

The four types of differential reinforcement that work to increase specific behaviors are:

Differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior (DRI)

Differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior, or DRI, reinforces a behavior that cannot be displayed at the same time as the undesirable behavior.

For example, a person cannot scream if they are talking in a normal tone of voice. A person cannot be out of their seat if they are sitting down. You are reinforcing the desired behavior in the absence of the undesired behavior.

Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA)

Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, or DRA, works a lot like DRI because they both reinforce the occurrence of behaviors that are alternatives to the problem behavior. The difference is the replacement behavior selected in DRA does not have to be incompatible with the problem behavior. It just has to be different.

Examples: A student who speaks out of turn is taught to raise their hand instead of speaking out of turn. The alternative to speaking out of turn is hand-raising. While the student can speak out of turn and raise their hand at the same time, the student will likely speak out of turn fewer times because they are receiving reinforcement for hand raising and not for speaking out of turn. Or the student would be taught to tap to get attention instead of yelling for attention. They can technically still yell while tapping, but it would be less likely because the tapping was being reinforced.

Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO)

Differential reinforcement of other behavior, or DRO, delivers reinforcement for any appropriate behavior whenever a problem behavior is not displayed during a specific interval of time.

If the interval was two minutes, then a staff member or parent would deliver if the client did not engage in the problem behavior within those two minutes. With DRO, different desirable behaviors can be reinforced if the problem behavior does not occur during that time frame.

Example: If a child does not throw a tantrum for two minutes, you can provide reinforcement. During those two minutes, several appropriate behaviors could be reinforced, such as sitting, speaking quietly, and playing appropriately. In a DRO, the staff targets and reinforces anything other than the target behavior.

Differential reinforcement of low rates (DRL)

Differential reinforcement of low rates, or DRL, is a type of positive reinforcement in which the reinforcer can lower the response rate by reinforcing fewer incidents or longer intervals between incidents.

Example: If a client wrings in their hands 15 times in 30 minutes, the interventionist could provide positive reinforcement if the client wrings their hands 13 times or less every half-an-hour. Or the reinforcer could provide a reinforcement if the client goes a certain amount of time between wringing their hands (ex: 5 minutes).

When to use differential reinforcement in ABA

Differential reinforcement is a versatile strategy in ABA that can be adapted to a variety of real-world situations. By reinforcing desirable behaviors and withholding reinforcement for problematic ones, ABA therapists can promote meaningful change across multiple domains.

One common scenario is managing tantrum behaviors in young children. For example, if a child throws a tantrum to escape a task, a therapist might implement DRA by reinforcing the child for appropriately requesting a break instead.

Improving communication skills is another key area. If a nonverbal individual uses aggression to get needs met, differential reinforcement can teach and reinforce using a communication device or gesture to ask for help — providing a socially appropriate replacement behavior.

Differential reinforcement is also useful for increasing task compliance. With DRO, the therapist might reward the absence of task avoidance behaviors for a specified interval, gradually increasing expectations over time.

These strategies, when integrated into a comprehensive positive behavior support plan, help clients replace maladaptive behaviors with functional alternatives. Differential reinforcement techniques empower ABA therapists to meet each individual’s unique needs in a respectful, effective manner.