4. * Hearing how punishment can be positive or
how reinforcement can be negative might
sound a bit confusing, but once it is broken
down, you can see how it all works together.
This presentation will explain how each
combination of positive and negative with
reinforcement or punishment.
*
7. * Positive Reinforcement is one of the better
known forms of Operant Conditioning because
many people do it instinctively. Each time you
congratulate someone or tell them thank you,
you are using Positive Reinforcement. Positive
Reinforcement is the act of adding stimuli to
attempt to increase the likelihood of a
behavior being repeated.
*
8. * Telling someone “Good Job”
* Rewarding a child for behaving by giving them
a treat
* Petting a dog for obeying a command
* Giving a good worker a raise
*
10. * Negative Reinforcement is the oddball of the
four, which is the act of removing a stimulus to
try to increase the likelihood of an action or
behavior being repeated in the future.
Typically, these refer to methods of removing
pain or discomfort. They may seem odd, but
the following examples may help to explain it.
*
11. * Rewarding a child asking politely for the
Television to be turned down by doing so
* Applying a heated patch to a sore muscle
* Having your hair cut when it becomes so long it
obscures your vision
* Taking medicine to relieve a headache
*
13. * Punishment, contrary to Reinforcement, seeks
to decrease the likelihood of a behavior being
repeated. Positive Punishment seeks to do so
by adding unpleasant stimuli to try to decrease
the likelihood of an action being repeated.
Most people have probably experienced this as
a child, but here are some examples just in
case.
*
14. * Spanking a child for screaming at their parents
* Scolding an employee for not performing their
job well enough
* Giving additional chores to a teenager who
routinely skips curfew
*
16. * Anyone who’s been grounded can tell you that
Negative Punishment is not fun. Negative
Punishment seeks to remove stimuli in an
attempt to decrease the chance of a certain
behavior being repeated and, depending on the
stimulus removed, can prove extremely
effective.
*
17. * Revoking Internet privileges from a child
* Reducing a bad worker’s paycheck
* Expelling a trouble making student
* Pointedly ignoring someone who is being
annoying
*
19. * Now, one may think that it would be best to
stick to one form Operant Conditioning, such as
only Negative Reinforcement, but when
attempting more complex behavioral
modifications, you’ll often find that it isn’t
enough, especially when attempting to teach a
behavior that the individual does not initially
wish to do. This is because, sometimes, the
“cost” of the behavior is not worth the
“reward” of the Reinforcement or avoiding the
Punishment. Here is an example of a situation
that many parents can find themselves in.
*
20. * The couple’s teenage child is getting bad
grades in school
* The child’s teachers regularly give tests
* The parents want to use a form of Operant
Conditioning to try to improve their child’s
study habits
* For sake of the example, let’s say the child has
is looking forward to a game that is coming out
soon
*
21. * Let’s assume at first the parents decide to try
using Positive Reinforcement. The parents
might try giving the child extra money for
getting good grades on his tests. Now this
would likely work well at first, since he would
want the extra money for the game. However,
once he has the game, the motivation of the
extra money, the “reward”, may not be worth
the time spent studying for the tests, the
“cost”.
*
22. * Now, let’s assume they instead decide to try
Negative Punishment. The parents tell the
child that unless he begins making better
grades, they will take away his video games.
This will work just after his new game comes
out because he will want to play it, but once
he beats the game, the motivation of getting
to play his video games may not work as
well, possibly causing him to slack off the
studies for other activities, such as going to the
movies.
*
23. * Clearly, Punishment and Reinforcement have
limits to how well they preform alone. Now,
picture how it might work if they used both of
the previous methods together. Before getting
the game, he would be motivated by the
promise of extra money. After getting it, he
would be motivated by the desire to not loose
the game. Since new games routinely come
out, this cycle would likely continue to work
for some time. Though they can work apart,
Punishment and Reinforcement work best
together.
*
24. * Psychsmart by McGraw-Hill
* ITELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications’s
Youtube Channel
* Wikipedia
*
