Understanding Contingency Management

The question asks for the term that describes the deliberate adjustment ('purposive manipulation') of reinforcement rules ('contingencies') to promote desired actions ('desirable behaviour').

Analyzing Reinforcement Strategies

• Contingency Management: This approach involves systematically changing the rewards or consequences (reinforcement contingencies) that follow specific behaviors. The goal is explicitly to increase the likelihood of desirable behaviors occurring. This directly matches the question's definition.
• Contingency Contracting: This is a more formal agreement outlining specific behaviors and their associated rewards or punishments. While related, it focuses on the contract itself rather than the broader principle of manipulating contingencies.
• Contingent Reinforcement: This principle states that reinforcement should be delivered only when a specific target behavior is performed. It's a component of contingency management but not the overall term for manipulating the contingencies themselves to encourage behavior.
• Non-contingent Reinforcement: This involves providing reinforcement regardless of the behavior performed, which is contrary to encouraging specific desirable behaviors.

Therefore, the purposeful manipulation of reinforcement contingencies to encourage desirable behaviour is known as Contingency management.