Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Reinforcement Schedules

Reinforcement Schedules

Positive reinforcement is a powerful method for teaching new behaviors to both animals and humans. B.F. Skinner demonstrated this with his experiments using rats in a Skinner box. When a rat pressed a lever, it received a food pellet. This immediate reward encouraged the rat to repeat the behavior. This method, where a reward follows every instance of the behavior, is known as continuous reinforcement. It is highly effective for establishing new behaviors quickly.
Once a behavior is learned,...

Reinforcement

Reinforcement

Positive and negative reinforcement are key concepts in operant conditioning, a learning process where the consequences of a behavior affect the likelihood of that behavior being repeated.
Positive reinforcement occurs when a behavior is followed by the presentation of a rewarding stimulus, increasing the frequency of that behavior. For example:

Operant Conditioning Intervention

Operant Conditioning Intervention

Operant conditioning serves as a foundational principle in therapeutic interventions aimed at modifying maladaptive behaviors. Central to this approach is the notion that behaviors, both adaptive and maladaptive, are learned through reinforcement. By analyzing the environmental factors that reinforce problematic behaviors, clinicians can design interventions to weaken these reinforcements and replace maladaptive behaviors with healthier alternatives.
In operant conditioning, behaviors that are...

Observational Learning

Observational Learning

Albert Bandura's observational learning, also known as imitation or modeling, occurs when a person observes and imitates another's behavior. It is a quicker process than operant conditioning. A well-known example is the Bobo doll study, where children who saw an adult acting aggressively towards the doll were more likely to act aggressively when left alone, compared to those who observed a nonaggressive adult. Many psychologists view observational learning as a form of latent learning...

Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness

Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness

Avoidance learning and learned helplessness are critical concepts in understanding behavioral responses to negative stimuli.
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...

Incentive Theory: Pull Theory of Motivation

Incentive Theory: Pull Theory of Motivation

Incentive theory, or the "pull theory" of motivation, suggests that external rewards primarily drive behavior. Individuals are motivated to engage in activities when they anticipate a desirable outcome. This is why people often work hard for promotions or study intensively to achieve high grades. These incentives can be tangible, physical rewards such as money or promotions, or intangible, non-physical rewards like praise and social recognition.
The theory differentiates between...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Stochastic competitive release and adaptive chemotherapy.

Physical review. E·2023

Same author

Optimal dynamic incentive scheduling for Hawk-Dove evolutionary games.

Physical review. E·2022

Same author

Role of synergy and antagonism in designing multidrug adaptive chemotherapy schedules.

Physical review. E·2021

Same author

Maximizing cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma evolutionary game via optimal control.

Physical review. E·2021

Same author

Nonlinear adaptive control of competitive release and chemotherapeutic resistance.

Physical review. E·2019

Same author

A low-dimensional deformation model for cancer cells in flow.

Physics of fluids (Woodbury, N.Y. : 1994)·2012

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 16, 2025

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats

Published on: February 4, 2016

COVID-19 vaccine incentive scheduling using an optimally controlled reinforcement learning model.

K Stuckey¹, P K Newton^2,3

¹Department of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA 90089-1191, United States of America.

Physica D. Nonlinear Phenomena

|December 21, 2022

Summary

This study models COVID-19 vaccine uptake using game theory and reinforcement learning. Optimized incentive programs can improve vaccine adoption, but benefits diminish above certain thresholds.

Keywords:

Dynamic incentives Evolutionary game theory Hawk–Dove games Optimal control Reinforcement learning dynamics Vaccine uptake dynamics

More Related Videos

Rodent Brain Microinjection to Study Molecular Substrates of Motivated Behavior

Rodent Brain Microinjection to Study Molecular Substrates of Motivated Behavior

Published on: September 16, 2015

The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups

The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups

Published on: May 13, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 16, 2025

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats

Published on: February 4, 2016

Rodent Brain Microinjection to Study Molecular Substrates of Motivated Behavior

Rodent Brain Microinjection to Study Molecular Substrates of Motivated Behavior

Published on: September 16, 2015

The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups

The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups

Published on: May 13, 2022

Area of Science:

Epidemiology
Behavioral Economics
Computational Social Science

Background:

COVID-19 vaccine uptake is crucial for public health.
Heterogeneous population responses (adopters vs. hesitant) influence vaccine coverage.
Understanding the dynamics of vaccine hesitancy is key to effective public health strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

To model COVID-19 vaccine uptake as a dynamic game between adopters and hesitant individuals.
To investigate the impact of dynamic incentive schedules on vaccine adoption rates.
To determine optimal incentive strategies, including timing and magnitude, for maximizing vaccine uptake.

Main Methods:

Utilized reinforcement learning and replicator dynamics to model population behavior.
Estimated payoff matrices from Center for Disease Control (CDC) data.
Applied optimal control theory to design and evaluate incentive schedules.

Main Results:

Identified the interaction between vaccine adopters and hesitant individuals as a Hawk-Dove evolutionary game.
Demonstrated that well-timed and designed incentive programs can increase vaccine uptake by shifting the Nash equilibrium.
Found diminishing returns for incentive sizes exceeding a specific threshold.

Conclusions:

Dynamic incentive programs offer a viable strategy to enhance COVID-19 vaccine uptake in large populations.
The effectiveness of incentives is dependent on careful design, timing, and magnitude.
There is a limit to the efficacy of incentives, with significant diminishing returns observed at higher levels.