The Advantages of Positive Reinforcement over Punishment
In your own words break down each of these three paragraphs
and explain what they are trying to say about punishment and why reinforcement
beats punishment
Paragraph 1
Punishment has several disadvantages that make its routine
questionable. For one thing, punishment is frequently ineffective, particularly
if it is not delivered shortly after the undesired behavior or if the
individual is able to leave the setting in which the punishment is being given.
An
employee who is reprimanded by the boss may quit; a teenage
who loses the use of the family car may borrow a friends' car instead. In such
instance, the initial behavior that is being punished may be replaced by one
that is even less desirable.
Paragraph 2
Even worse, physical punishment can convey to the recipient
the idea that physical aggression is permissible and perhaps even desirable. A
father who yells at and hits his son for misbehaving teaches that aggression is
appropriate, adult response. The son may soon copy his father's
behavior by acting aggressively toward others. In addition,
physical punishment is often administered by people who are themselves angry or
enraged. Punishment can also reduce the self-esteem of recipients unless they
understand the reasons for it.
Paragraph 3
Finally punishment does not convey any information about
what an alternative, more appropriate behavior might be. To be useful in bring
about more desirable behavior in the future, punishment must be accompanied by
specific information about the behavior that is being punished, along
with specific suggestions concerning a more desirable
behavior. Punishing a child for staring out the window in school could merely
lead her to stare at the floor instead. Unless we teach her the appropriate
ways to respond, we merely managed to substitute one undesirable behavior for
another. If punishment is not followed up with reinforcement
for subsequent behavior that is more appropriate, little will be accomplished.
In short, reinforcing desired behavior is more appropriate
technique for modifying behavior than punishment. Both in and out of the
scientific arena, then, reinforcement usually beats punishment
0 comments:
Post a Comment