Reinforcement and punishment
Reinforcement
- Is a consequence that follows a behaviour which makes it more likely that the behaviour will occur in future.
- It is not the same as reward
- Positive reinforcement, increases the probability of a behaviour (does not mean it will definitely happen again but makes it more likely). an appetitive stimulus (something you want) is presented following a particular behaviour which makes it more likely that the behaviour will occur in future. An example would be working hard on an exam resulting in you receiving a high grade, and this then makes you feel good and if you work hard again in future your behaviour has been reinforced.
- Negative reinforcement, is removal of a stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behaviour. So the behaviour results in an aversive stimulus/ state (something we don’t want) being removed or avoided making it more likely that the behaviour will occur in the future. Being Hungary and then eating food, as the food removes hunger. There also different forms of negative reinforcement such as:
o Avoidance, seeing someone you know but don’t want to talk to them and so pretending there is something very, very interesting up in the sky to avoid eye contact. If this works it is reinforced meaning you are more likely to do it again.
o Escape, is when we behave in a way that removes an unwanted stimulus. For example snoozing an alarm, which stops the loud sound from waking u up.
Much of medicine and healthcare is built around negative reinforcement, as when you have headache or pain you can a pill to remove this pain. This will then reinforce taking the pill as it has removed the aversive stimulus.
- Factors effecting reinforcement:
o Timing (contingency) is important, and it is best if reinforcement is delivered immediately after the behaviour. This strengthens the relationship between the target behaviour and reinforcement.
o The reinforcement should follow the behaviour we want to increase
o The more consistently a reinforcer follows a behaviour, the stronger the reinforcing effects.
o If the reinforcement follows other behaviours, this might lead to them being reinforced instead.
- Types of reinforces:
o Unconditional reinforcers, these do not depend on a relation to other reinforcers and are just naturally reinforcing. Examples include: food, water, oxygen, warmth, sexual stimulation, human touch.
o Conditioned reinforcers, these only become effective due to relation between another reinforcer. Examples include a clicker which can be associated with food for training.
o Generalised conditioned reinforcers, these do not depend on any particular form of reinforcement for effective effectiveness. Examples include social attention, money or grades.
Punishment
- This causes a decrease in the certain behaviour, meaning it is less likely to occur again.
- Positive punishment, Behaviour results in an aversive stimulus (something we don’t want) being presented, making it less likely that the behaviour will occur in the future. An example is a teacher shouting at s child for behaving badly, and this results in the child behaving for the rest of the day. There can be different types of punishment such as:
o Contingent, which is when the person is required to usually perform an effortful response this is not topographically related to the problem behaviour (not related to the problem behaviour).
o Overcorrection, is when you have to perform in effortful behaviour that is related to the problem behaviour and examples include:
§ Restitutional: which is correcting the environmental effects of the problem behaviour and restore the natural environment. Cleaning off spray paint.
§ Positive practice, get people to engage in the correct form of relevant behaviour by practicing the desired behaviour.
- Negative punishment, behaviour results in the removal of an appetitive stimulus (something we do want) making it less likely that the behaviour will occur in the future. Most common example are fines, as money is not something we want taken away from us. Types can include:
o Response cost, this is the removal of a reinforcer following problem behaviour and results in a decrease of future probability of problem behaviour. This can include the loss of generalised conditioned reinforcers such as money, token, tangibles (stickers) or preferred activities.
o Time-out, is the loss of access to positive reinforcers for a brief period following problem behaviour. This results in a decrease in the future probability of the problem behaviour.
- Issues with punishment:
o Can be very effective and can sometimes see immediate results.
o Lead to emotional reactions, don’t make us feel good
o Negative reinforcement of the punisher’s behaviour
o Fails to teach an appropriate replacement behaviour, can lead to people withdrawing, and loss of creativity
- Punishments are avoided in modern day behavioural treatments