Positive Reinforcement In Psychology

According to Kail and Cavanaugh the theory established by Skinner known as operant conditioning is a “learning paradigm in which the consequences of a behavior determine whether a behavior is repeated in the future” (p. 13). This theory to an extent, parallels the previous theory of operant conditioning but is also important in trying to understand why one makes the decisions they do as well as how often they partake in certain behaviors. Through his theory Skinner displayed that there are two types of consequences, reinforcement and punishment, in which one increases the chances of repeated behavior and the other vice versa. Reinforcement is the component that increases the likeliness of repeated behavior and includes two divisions, negative and positive. Negative reinforcement is that in which a person’s

In Psychology learning is seen as a change in behaviour caused by an experience. Behaviorism, is seen as a learning theory; an attempt to explain how people or animals learn by studying their behaviour. The Behaviourists Approach has two theories to help explain how we learn, Classical conditioning and operant conditioning. In this task I will attempt to describe and evaluate this approach.

Skinner created the theory of Operant Conditioning as he believed that all behaviour can be controlled by rewards or reinforcement. This is very different from Pavlovs theory of Classical Conditioning as Skinner is trying to control voluntary behaviour. This is done by giving the subject a positive or negative reaction to an action with the theory that a negative response will discourage the subject to repeat the action. A good example of this is house training a dog, as the dogs natural reaction is to relieve itself, however it must be taught to wait until it is outside. The more the dog waits until he is outside, the more praise he receives therefore it is less likely to wish to instigate a negative reaction by relieving himself inside the house.

Reinforcement is an essential part in identifying and encouraging a certain behavior. In the most classic definition, positive reinforcement is a method of identifying to children which behaviors are acceptable and appropriate and which are not (Sigler, E. & Aamidor, S, 2005). Reinforcement is often given as praise for doing a certain task. As educators, saying “great job” or a simple word like “fantastic” are expressed towards students as praise. However, when a student is struggling and praise is given such as “you are doing so well”, the negative aspects of praise present themselves. The child is aware of the empty praise therefore it may work against the teacher if it is taken as a false

Tashawna Duncan, Kristen Kemple, and Tina Smith all agree that implementing reinforcements in early childhood is critical for the push for all inclusive classrooms. No two children are alike. Therefore, it’s up to the teacher to determine effective ways to get all of the students to perform and master the desired behavior in the class. Some kids are motivated to perform simply because they like to please adults. Yet, what about the children who need more positive reinforcement? That’s when the teacher can implement social, tangible, activity reinforcers. “A particular behavior is said to be positively reinforced when the behavior is followed by the presentation of a reward that results in increased frequency of the particular behavior” (Abbendento

7). There a few courses of action we could take with this girl. Their philosophy of “treatment” would mostly stick to reinforcement. Probably using a mixture of negative and positive, which is what Skinner and his colleagues are most famous for thinking. They like to make sure what they qualify as good behaviors stay and bad ones get tossed out the window. The idea could mix a little with social learning theory. If she won’t raise her hand, then they might suggest using more positive reinforcement for children who raise their hands. Then this little girl will look at what those kids are getting and copy them. She will do this in hopes she will get that same reinforcement.

Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current which caused it some discomfort. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately

He used the example that (Skinner 1972 as cited in Robins, G (2012)) if a person moves into the shade because it is hot, he is more likely to repeat this behavior the next time the sun is hot. He described this phenomenon as ‘operant conditioning’. The cooling down reinforces the behavior. He argued that if the students are consistently praised, rewarded and acknowledge for learning or having in a certain way, they would behave in the same way again, this creating ‘conditions which are optimal for producing the changes called ‘learning’ (Skinner 1969: 10 as cited in Robins, G (2012)) and allowing the teacher to influence the behavior of pupils at will without resorting to

Appropriate and positive behavior is very important in the classroom. One way to help with behavioral issues is using positive reinforcement and rewards in many circumstances. Praises can be in the form of verbal affirmation and rewards can be in the form of giving stickers to the student for getting good grades, being a classroom helper and/or displaying positive behavior throughout the day.

During his time at Harvard, the physiology of an individual who was Jacque Loeb student named William Crozier, he was intrigued with that a lot than the psychology at Harvard. Crozier and Loeb asserted that genuine science developed from controlling exploratory results, however not just the examination of occurrence beneath investigation. Skinner utilized behavioral investigation as the establishment of his control of trials. In 1930, Skinner built up a contraption that controlled conduct of a rodent. This marvel acquired the label operant conditioning. His performance on operant conditioning got established on Thorndikes’s law of effect. (Thorndike) He brought the term reinforcement within the law of effect. As indicated by Skinner (1938) augmented conduct has a high chance of being fortified, while conduct that is not strengthened becomes brought to an end.

B.F. Skinner, an American psychologist in the early 1900’s, focused his work on observable behaviors and using desirable and undesirable consequences to change behavior, otherwise referred to as, operant conditioning. In order to increase the frequency of a pleasant behavior, educators use shaping to reinforce the steps to success. For instance, a positive reinforcement uses desirable rewards, such as, a teacher immediately praising a student or providing extra credit. Another way to increase the frequency of a behavior occurring, would be to provide a negative reinforcement, which allow students to escape from unpleasant tasks, such as, no new spelling words that week, or release from daily chores. However, often times unpleasant behaviors occur, and educators wish to reduce the frequency of a those behaviors occurring. Through the use of consequences, a teacher could present a punishment immediately, such as, scolding,

Watson (1913) quoted, “give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of the talents, penchants, tendencies, vocations, and race of his or her ancestors”

When teaching a child to complete a task, questions of motivation and reinforcement surface often during the process. Discovering stimuli that are reinforcing enough to change future behavior and responding is an important process in Applied Behavior Analysis. The effectiveness of reinforcement depends on the existing level of motivation for the reinforcement (Cooper, Heron, Heward, 2007). In other words, for stimulus change to function as reinforcement, the subject must already want it (Cooper & Heron & Heward, 2007). Positive and negative reinforcement are the most important principles behavior analysts use to manipulate behavior (Vollmer & Hackenberg, 2001). As many studies have shown, the most complex behaviors can be modified and maintained by reinforcement contingencies (Vollmer & Hackenber, 2001). Delivery of contingent reinforcement depends on the occurrence of a given response requirement (Vollmer, Hackenberg, 2001).

As kids grow up they begin to start learning more and more about themselves, and they typically act the way, they were raised, or the people or things they grew up around. I have three siblings, two older sisters and one younger. I learned that me, and my two older sister were raised differently than my little sister growing up. My younger sister is still eleven years old, and she still has time to develop. As children me and my two older sister never really acted the way she acts today. Yes, she is still young, however she has a lot of listening issues, and she seems to always want to do her own thing. She does things that can get herself into trouble with my mother, but she continues to do them anyway. First I will be analyzing and trying to figure out what kind of reinforcement will work to getting her to listen to us when we tell her to do things. Things like, homework: to be exact, chores, etc. Which reinforcement will work better positive or negative? I am arguing the theory that negative reinforcement is not as impactful as positive reinforcement. In my opinion I believe negative reinforcement would work better because I believe it is a harsher than positive reinforcement.

The purpose of this study is to identify whether other methods of positive reinforcement (low-preference edible items and high-preference leisure items) dependent on compliance would result in a decrease in problem behavior and an increase in compliance in a 19-year-old man with profound intellectual disability and destructive behaviors (Carter, 2010).