The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again. - B. F. Skinner
The Behaviorist perspective assumes, at its core, that all human behavior is learned, and thus consequently can be unlearned as well, or more likely altered to reflect more appropriate behavior. The main purpose of implementing various strategies of reinforcement or punishment is to effect a desired change in behavior. According to the principles of operant conditioning, when appropriate strategies are applied correctly, virtually any behavior can be learned, extinguished or modified (Ormrod, 2004, Santrock, 2003). Behaviorists shunned the study of mental processes because there seemed to be no way to observe them directly or to make rigorous, testable inferences about their workings.
Specifically, reinforcement refers to “the process by which a stimulus or event strengthens or increases the probability of a behavior or an event that follows” (Santrok, 2003, p. 280). In other words, a reinforcer is anything that strengthens the behavior that leads to it. Reinforcement can be further subdivided into categories of positive and negative based on the specific use of the reinforcer.
Positive reinforcement involves the addition of a stimulus that is desired, such as food, an object or a privilege, in order to increase the frequency of response, while negative reinforcement involves the removal of an aversive stimulus, such as a restriction or annoyance, in order to increase the frequency of response. Positive reinforcement corresponds to what common sense calls reward; it is an event that, when it follows an operant response, increases the likelihood that the response will recur. A negative reinforcement is an event whose termination, when it occurs following an operant response, increases the likelihood that the response will recur. According to Catania (1997), the term reinforcement is used correctly “if and only if three conditions exist: (a) a response produces some consequence; (b) the response occurs more often than when it does not produce that consequence; and (c) the increased responding occurs because the response produces that consequence, and not for some other incidental reason” (p. 43).
In contrast, punishment refers to “a consequence that decreases the frequency or likelihood that a behavior will occur” (Santrok, 2003, p. 284). Like its counterpart, punishment can be further broken down by type. Punishment I, also referred to as positive punishment by some behaviorists, exists if a behavior decreases when it is followed by an aversive stimulus. Conversely, Punishment II, or negative punishment, refers to a behavior decreasing as a result of a positive stimulus being removed (Carlson, Miller, Heth, Donahoe & Martin, 2009; Santrock, 2003). Thus, with punishment, the behavior tendency is weakened, while with reinforcement it is strengthened.
The table below summarizes the types of reinforcement and punishment.
References
Carlson, N. R., Miller, H. L., Heth, D. S., Donahoe, J. W., & Martin, G. N. (2009). Psychology: The science of behavior, 7e. New York, NY: Pearson Ed.
Catania, A. C. (2013). Learning, 5e. New York, NY: Prentice Hall.
Ormrod, J. E. (2004). Human learning, 4e. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Santrock, J. W. (2003). Psychology, 7e Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.