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Reinforcing Incompatible Responses
When it is impossible for two responses to co-exist simultaneously, we say that they are incompatible responses. For example, your dog can't both sleep on the couch and sleep on his own bed at the same time. Therefore, we say that sleeping in his bed and sleeping on the couch are incompatible responses.
Similarly, your dog can't chase your neighbor's cat and ignore your neighbor's cat at the same time. Therefore, those responses also are rightly said to be incompatible.
Reinforcing responses that are incompatible with the target response is one of the three elements in the formula for changing behavior.