Reinforcement procedures have been commonly used with children, teenagers, the elderly, animals, and for many psychological disorders. The reinforcement used can be either positive or negative, each having different outcomes completely. It can be quite difficult to differentiate between positive and negative reinforcement, which can often cause problems.
Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is an extremely powerful tool that has proven to help change and create new behavior. It works by rewarding the person with a motivating item after the behavior is achieved, making it more likely to happen again in the future.
An example of positive reinforcement is: A child receives money for doing chores.
Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement is where instead of being rewarded with an item for making positive choices, and item or stimulus is removed after a specific behavior is shown.
The likelihood of the behavior occurring again is increased because of removing the negative association, however negative reinforcement should not be seen as punishment (which decreases a behavior) but should be seen as a way to increase a behavior by removing a negative association.
An example of negative reinforcement is: A teenager dislikes when her parent is constantly reminding her about cleaning her bedroom, or how messy her bedroom is. If the parent removes or decreases the reminders, it is more likely the teen may clean her room to avoid hearing the reminders.
The result you are seeking for negative reinforcement is to increase a behavior by removing the negative association. The result you are seeking for positive reinforcement is adding a positive association to increase a response.
Punishment
Punishment is usually seen as an unpleasant stimulus or a harmful consequence, however this is not necessarily the case. Punishment is where a consequence directly follows an action which reduces the frequency of the particular behavior. Comparable to reinforcement, a stimulus or reward can be added (positive punishment) or taken away (negative punishment).
Just like reinforcement, there are also two types of punishment: Negative and positive. Also, like reinforcement, it can be difficult to determine the difference.
What is Positive Punishment?
Positive punishment is when you offer an unpleasant consequence once an undesired behavior is shown, which will make the behavior less likely to happen again.
An example of positive punishment: A child has a tantrum and throws himself onto the ground, hitting his head hard on the floor (behavior) and feels pain (aversive stimulus).
What is Negative Punishment?
Negative punishment is when a stimulus is removed after an undesired behavior is shown, which will make the behavior less likely to happen again.
An example of negative punishment is: A teenager bullies another teenager at school (behavior). The bully is removed from the school (reinforcing stimulus removed).
The purpose of punishment is to reduce the undesired behavior. Although there are negative and positive ways to enforce punishment, remember that the desired result is the same.
Fine-tuning how to positively and negatively reinforce situations with your family members is one of the most difficult parts of parenting. Being on the same page as your partner will ensure the same results are being aimed for and achieved.
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Three Major Types of Learning
1) Learning through association - Classical Conditioning
2) Learning through consequences � Operant Conditioning
3) Learning through observation � Modeling/Observational Learning
LEARNING
Learning is a change in behavior or in potential behavior that occurs as a result of experience. Learning occurs most rapidly on a schedule of continuous reinforcement. However it is fairly easy to extinguish� switching to variable reinforcement after the desired behavior has been reached prevents extinction.
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
If a neutral stimulus (a stimulus that at first elicits no response) is paired with a stimulus that already evokes a reflex response, then eventually the new stimulus will by itself evoke a similar response. (UCS, UCR, CS, CR)
� Each pairing of the CS with the UCS strengthens the connection between the CS and CR.
� Timing is important. Usually the strongest and fastest conditioning occurs when the CS is presented about � to one second before the UC.
� EXTINCTION - If the CS is presented repeatedly in the absence of the UCS, the CS-CR bond will weaken and the CR will eventually disappear.
� STIMULUS GENERALIZATION - Once conditioning has occurred the subject may respond not only to the CS, but to stimuli similar to it. For example, many of our likes and dislikes of new people and situations come from generalization based on similarities to past experiences.
� STIMULUS DISCRIMINATION � opposite of stimulus generalization. SD is the ability to detect differences among stimuli. This procedure is sometimes used to test the ability of nonverbal subjects to discriminate among various stimuli, such as color (air puff / eye blink).
OPERANT CONDITIONING
The organism operates on its environment in some way; the behavior in which it engages are instrumental to achieving some outcome.
LAW of EFFECT
If a response is followed by a pleasant or satisfying consequence, that response will be strengthened. If a response is followed by an unpleasant or negative state of affairs, it will be weakened.
Differences Between Operant and Classical Conditioning
1) In classical conditioning, the conditional behavior (CR) is triggered by the particular stimulus (CS) and is therefore called an elicited behavior. Operant behavior is an emitted behavior in the sense that it occurs in a situation containing many stimuli and seems to be initiated by the organism. In a sense the subject chooses when and how to respond.
2) In classical conditioning, behavior (CR) is affected by something that occurs before the behavior (the CS-UCS pairing). In contrast, the operant response is affected by what happens after the behavior � that is by its consequences.
Positive Reinforcement
Any stimulus or event that increases the likelihood of the occurrence of a behavior that it follows.
Shaping
Shaping is the method of successive approximations. Shaping reinforces the behaviors as they get closer and closer to the desired behavior.
Negative Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement is anything that increases a behavior that results in the reinforcers removal.
Punishment
Any consequence that decreases the future occurrence of a behavior that produces it.
When You Remove a Positive Stimulus
Extinction
If the stimulus is a
reinforcer for the behavior (e.g., parent ignores child/withdraws attention when child acts up to get attention)
Response Cost
If the stimulus is not a reinforcer for the behavior (e.g., parent takes away child's TV privileges when child acts up to get attention)
OPERANT CONDITIONING CONSEQUENCES
Presentation | Removal | |
Positive Stimuli | Positive Reinforcement (ie: praise, A+, money) Increases Behavior | Extinction or Response Cost (ie: withdrawal of praise, A+, or money) Decreases Behavior |
Aversive Stimuli | Punishment (ie: spanking or electric shock) Decreases Behavior | Negative Reinforcement (ie: smoking or removal of shock) Increases Behavior |