Establishing Operations and Behavioral Motivation
This paper analyzes Jack Michael's foundational 1993 work on establishing operations as a conceptual framework for understanding motivation in behavior analysis. The paper explores Michael's definition of establishing operations and distinguishes between two key dimensions: discriminative versus motivational variables, and unconditioned versus conditioned establishing operations. The analysis covers reflexive and transitive conditioned establishing operations, their mechanisms, and their functional relationships. The paper concludes by examining Michael's argument for reintegrating motivational constructs into behaviorist theory, addressing the historical decline of motivation discourse in the field and its implications for behavioral science.
- Defining Establishing Operations: Michael's definition and theoretical importance
- Discriminative and Motivational Variables: Two key behavioral determinants distinguished
- Unconditioned and Conditioned Establishing Operations: Learned and unlearned motivational factors
- Reflexive and Transitive Conditioned Operations: Functional types of conditioned operations
- Motivation Redux in Behaviorist Theory: Why motivation deserves reintegration into behaviorism
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What makes this paper effective
- Clearly structures a complex theoretical framework by isolating and explaining distinct conceptual distinctions (discriminative vs. motivational; UEOs vs. CEOs)
- Uses progressively more sophisticated examples to illustrate abstract concepts, moving from pain and deprivation to warning stimuli to transitive operations
- Directly engages with Michael's primary source rather than secondary paraphrasing, preserving definitional rigor
- Addresses the historical context of motivation in behaviorist theory, connecting theory to disciplinary practice
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates systematic unpacking of a dense theoretical definition through iterative illustration. Rather than stating Michael's concepts once, the author introduces the foundational definition, then layers on two independent taxonomic dimensions (discriminative/motivational and learned/unlearned), then develops three distinct types of CEOs with increasing functional complexity. This scaffolding allows readers to grasp abstract behavioral principles through concrete examples while maintaining conceptual precision.
Structure breakdown
The essay follows a deductive-to-synthetic structure: it begins with Michael's core definition and its motivational significance, isolates the two fundamental variable types, then bifurcates into learned versus unlearned operations. The middle sections explicate three operational subtypes in order of behavioral function, and the conclusion situates the framework within the broader historical context of motivation discourse in behaviorism. The argument does not seek to critique Michael but to clarify his position and its implications for the field.
Defining Establishing Operations
Michael (1993) argued that the consideration of motivation—which he conceptually terms establishing operations—is substantive to the understanding of behavior. Michael offers the following definition of establishing operations: "an environmental event, operation, or stimulus condition that affects an organism by momentarily altering (a) the reinforcing effectiveness of other events and (b) the frequency of occurrence of that part of the organism's repertoire relevant to those events as consequences" (1993, p. 191).
A key point in Michael's position regarding establishing operations is that the distinction between learned and unlearned establishing operations is of paramount importance in the ability of researchers and practitioners to "identify and control the various components of multiple determinations" of human behavior. This foundational insight positions establishing operations as essential to behaviorist analysis and practical behavioral modification.
Discriminative and Motivational Variables
The multiple determinants to which Michael refers include discriminative and motivational variables. Discriminative variables refer to the availability of certain attributes to reinforce particular behaviors. That is to say that a particular reinforcement has more availability in the presence of the stimulus condition (discriminative stimuli or SD) than in the absence of the stimulus condition.
Motivational variables, by contrast, are different capacities of environmental events to act as reinforcers. The important distinction between discriminative and motivational variables lies in their functional properties: the availability characterizes the first, while the reinforcing effectiveness characterizes the second. Understanding this distinction allows behavioral analysts to differentiate between whether a behavior is performed because a reinforcer is present (discriminative control) or because a reinforcer has become more valuable (motivational control).
Unconditioned and Conditioned Establishing Operations
Michael also considers the distinction between conditioned establishing operations (CEOs) and unconditioned establishing operations (UEOs). The two examples of unconditioned establishing operations to which Michael refers are pain stimulation and food deprivation. These represent naturally occurring or biologically grounded conditions that affect the organism's behavioral repertoire without prior learning.
The example of conditioned establishing operations used by Michael is the learning history of a person or other learning organism. A conditioned establishing operation may be paired with an unconditioned establishing operation, and through this pairing, become more capable of motivating the organism than before the association occurred. In this way, previously neutral stimuli acquire motivational properties through classical conditioning and experience.
Reflexive and Transitive Conditioned Operations
An example of a different type of conditioned establishing operation is the warning stimulus utilized in avoidance procedures. This conditioned establishing operation is considered to be reflexive in nature as it brings about its own end as a result of its function. That is to say that the conditioned establishing operation serves as a form of punishment or negative reinforcement, which evokes or brings about the very behavior that causes the end of the aversive condition.
Yet another conditioned establishing operation is referred to as transitive, in that it is a type of conditional conditioned establishing operation which establishes another stimulus as an effective reinforcement, thereby evoking the behavior that produced the other stimulus. This can be thought of as a simply closed-loop response, which Michael further clarifies by explaining that, "any stimulus that is positively correlated with the onset of painful stimulation becomes a CEO, in that its own offset will function as reinforcement and it will evoke any behavior that has been followed by this reinforcement" (p. 202).
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