Lesson 4: Positive Reinforcement and Punishment


Attention


Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Identify the basic function of Positive Reinforcers
  • Utilize methods for obtaining lists of Positive Reinforcers to construct a Reinforcement Inventory
  • Contrast Positive Reinforcement and Punishment
  • Discuss the pros and cons of utillizing Punishments in Behavior Management

Teaching

What is Reinforcement and what is Punishment?

Rather than define these as inherent aspects of the object, we define them as a function of their EFFECT on behavior. There is no THING that is reinforcing to all people all the time (well, maybe "AIR" is something we ALL want and we are ALL willing to work to get it...but you know what I mean!)

The Law of Effect

Something is a Reinforcer when it INCREASES or MAINTAINS the behavior that precedes it

Something is a Punishment when it DECREASES or ELIMINATES the behavior that precedes it.

Can you see how the quality of an object is less important than its effect? I'll give you a sad example:

It is not uncommon in cases of child abuse that the child is identified as engaging in behaviors that enrage their parents. At first glance this seems "crazy"...why would the kid engage in behaviors that he or she knows are going to bring on the abuse? When we apply the Law of Effect we have to presume that the behaviors of the child are being maintained by SOMETHING...and that something is the abuse.

When we examine these situations deeply we find that the abuse, which is a strong form of attention from the parent, can be very REINFORCING when it is the ONLY TYPE OF ATTENTION THEY GET. So in these situations, the Reinforcing quality of the abuse outweighs the obvious Punishing quality of the abuse (pain, discomfort, scars, etc.)

This not only demonstrates the fact that what is Reinforcing and Punishing depends on the person, but it also demonstrates why Reinforcement is so much more powerful than Punishment

Individualized

Each of us has unique things that are Reinforcing and Punishing to us. This is why Behavior Plans need to be individualized to the preferences of the individual involved.

When you are trying to develop a plan (for yourself or another person) one of the challenges (after you have successfully defined the behavior!) is to come up with a list of potential reinforcers. You need a list because sometimes the effect of a reinforcer wears out (how much chocolate can you "earn" before you are sick of chocolate?) and sometimes you can't always give a specific reinforcer right when it needs to be delivered (if "watching a movie" is the rienforcer, how do you do that when you are at the park?).

To help with defining a list here are some strategies:

  • Brainstorming: Either by yourself or with others come up with a list of potential reinforcers
  • Ask Others: Ask people in your life to identify potential reinforcers
  • Premack Principle: Observe what the person does in their spare time. Does your kid stare at the wall, talk with friends, play video games for hours on end? Well, anything that someone DOES on their own is potentially a reinforcer!
  • Give Choices: Sometimes we simply provide choices (from brainstorming) to our subject and see what they like
  • Experiment: Because we KNOW that reinforcers INCREASE or MAINTAIN behavior we can experiment with them by providing them after a behavior and observing if the behavior increases or is maintained (this one is tricky and involves real experimental procedures to be sure that the reinforcer is the thing that is maintaining the behavior). This method is often used with individuals who are non-communicative or profoundly disabled.

Praise and Feedback

While many schools and teachers say that you have to praise and provide feedback to students to maintain their behavior, this is not always the case. Remember, there is NO UNIVERSAL punishement or reinforcer. Here is another story:

When my daughter was in Elementary School they were asked to log all the pages that they read in Chapter Books. A competition was set up such that the person with the most pages logged would be able to throw out the first pitch at a Portland Seadogs game (an annual event at the school).

When we met with the teacher at the end of the competition the teacher said that she was surprised that Hannah had only read as many chapters as she had (according to her logs)...in fact, she barely read the required amount of chapters and turned in very few logs.

When we investigated it we found out that Hannah had, in fact, actually read roughly three times the number of chapters that the "winner" had submitted...but she didn't submit the logs because she was MORTIFIED that she would have to throw the first pitch!

Praise and Rewards that seem universal may, in fact, be punishments! Luckily this did not directly effect her "reading behavior" it effected her "turning in logs of her reading behavior"!

Punishment

There is no doubt about it...we live in a punishment-based society. Kids in school rarely get "attention" until they break the rules (with the exception of the top 10% which make honor roll, make the team, and are celebrated at events).

No police officer has ever pulled me over to congratulate me on staying under the speed limit by giving me a check for $10! I meet our protectors in uniform when I'm BREAKING the rule, not when I'm abiding by it!

Sadly, punishment, as a behavior method, is much less effective than reinforcement in changing behaviors. Experimentation has been done to conclude this not only in laboratory animals but humans as well...reinforcement is better than punishment.

So why do those in "power" (parents, teachers, principles, law makers, etc.) like to use punishment so much?

  • It works...for most of us...while I just said that it does not work as well as reinforcement, it DOES work because many of us want to avoid punishments like fines, going to jail, and time-outs.
  • Revenge...punishment is a great way to get back at your coworkers/kids/friends/citizens when they step out of line
  • Power Expression...there is nothing that defines power like the ability to bring about punishments! This is an addictive power/control issue (keep in mind that I will state later in this class that power and control are very important qualities that we need to maintain...there are just better ways to do that!)

Why is Punishment sort of "risky"?

  • It makes the person who is being punished MAD! (They may seek revenge)
  • It can be done in anger and carried to extremes (this is where abuse has its beginnings)
  • It is inconsistent...so, most of the time we miss the behaviors that should be punished, so most of the time they "get away with it" and are thus reinforced by that! (This is why despite the fact that we get caught for speeding, we still speed. IF we got a fine EVERY TIME we went over the speed limit we would buy cars with speed controllers on them!)
  • Punishing a "bad behavior" does not teach them what you want them to DO, it only teaches what you want them to NOT DO. (This is a critical difference that will come up later in the class)
This does not teach the dog what to DO, only what is BAD
This teaches the dog what to DO...to pee on the grass!

Lesson 4 Lecture Handout

Schedules of Reinforcement

I want to add some facts that we have gathered from research in Behavior Management to the discussion about the use of Punishment and Reinforcement.

Consider this...why is gambling so addictive when we hardly ever win? We pay for a scratch ticket, for example, and we hardly ever get out money back...but once in a while we DO win and it is VERY COOL! In Behavior terms we call this a Variable Ratio of Reinforcement which means we really don't know how many times we will have to buy a ticket before we are going to get a winner.

This type of Reinforcement Schedule produces the MOST CONSISTENT BEHAVIOR pattern...people who gamble, gamble steady!!

So, why is this important? Consider this...

When we act "badly", or when kids act "badly" (whatever that is), MOST of the time they get away with it..really they do. That means that MOST of the time they are reinforced for the behavior and punishment is just once in a while. If you think about it, this is a Variable Ratio of Reinforcement situation!!! They really don't know when they are going to get caught, but most of the time they won't so it maintains the behavior.

So, PUNISHMENT works really well when we are able to punish nearly every time...since this is hardly ever the case...a plan based on Punishment that only "catches" people once in a while is ACTUALLY a Variable Ratio Reinforcer program for the negative behavior!!

It is RARE that teens get caught drinking, that is why they drink

It is RARE that we get caught speeding, that is why we speed

It is RARE that we get caught fudging our taxes, that is why it is common

HOWEVER.....

If you institute a Reinforcement plan and ONLY catch them doing the DESIRED behavior once in a while (which is the case, you can't always be there to catch them) you are still setting up a Variable Ratio Reinforcement plan...if your subject really really wants the reinforcer, they will behave much like an addict.

This is why REINFORCEMENT works better than PUNISHMENT


Assessment

Lesson 4 Discussion

I make the argument in the lecture that we emphasize Positive Reinforcement over Punishment because it is more effective. Debate the use of Punishment in behavior planning. Is it SOMETIMES a good thing? Discuss the risks of Punishment.

Lesson 4 Quiz

  1. Define the basic element of a stimulus that MAKES it a Reinforcer
  2. Contrast Positive Reinforcement and Punishment