Primary Reinforcers

Hi Latoya, I agree with primary reinforcers being a benefit or reward, in addition to secondary reinforcers being more like a "motivator" (Cloninger, S. 5th Ed., 2013). Therefore, this behavior is infact learned, trained and conditioned. Common examples of primary reinforcers are water, food, sleep, sex and air. Primary reinforcers are biological, genetic and a result of an evolutionary process. One thing that sets primary reinforcers apart from secondary, is the fact that primary reinforcers are not dependent on other reinforcers.
Primary reinforcers have been the subject to countless interesting research studies. The principle of primary reinforcement has been seen in research studies conducted on the role that nicotine plays in smoking cigarettes.