Adults With Developmental Disabilities

I presume everyone knows what reinforcement is? And the difference between positive and negative reinforcement? Well, just in case...

Reinforcement, basically, is anything that happens following a behavior that increases the chances of that behavior occurring again in the future. Reinforcement is used to increase a behavior.

Positive reinforcement means that you add a desired stimulus (like verbal praise) in order to increase a behavior. "Good job, Bob!" is probably the most overused phrase in social services... but if it works, keep doing it.

Negative reinforcement means that you remove a disliked stimulus (like the annoying "ding - ding - ding" that goes off in your car until you fasten your seatbelt) in order to increase a behavior. You increase your behavior of putting on your seatbelt in order to remove the disliked stimulus of the warning ding.

Remember, positive reinforcement has nothing to do with how nicely you say something to a client - it's adding a desired stimulus to increase a behavior. If it has the word "reinforcement" in it, it's meant to increase a behavior.

Negative reinforcement still increases the chances of a behavior repeating. Do not equate the word "negative" with punishment.

Punishment, on the other hand, is anything that follows a behavior that decreases the chances of that behavior occurring again in the future. Punishment is used to decrease a behavior... like a traffic ticket is used to get you to stop driving so badly. There are Type I and Type II punishments, but I won't go into those here because I don't want you to use punishment for behaviors anyway. I am not saying that punishment doesn't work. If I yell at someone who is twisting my nose in new and unusual directions, I am using punishment in order to get them to immediately decrease the behavior of breaking my nose. I will later attempt to change that behavior with positive reinforcement of a replacement behavior which lets them communicate the same message in a more socially acceptable and pain free manner.

Reinforcement increases the chances of a behavior occurring again, punishment decreases the chances of the behavior occurring.

You know, if anyone ever has questions, please let me know. I love talking about this subject!

jmeyers.mosscanyon@yahoo.com.  Or let's talk about it here.

Thanks to folks writing in, I went back through the curriculum and updated a couple of things...

I found two references to pay phones and a reference to a library card index file to look for books. Hmmm, both a bit outdated, so I corrected that.

I also wrote a new topic that I had been considering for a while - Social Media. It just helps staff talk to their clients about  what social media is and how it can be fun to keep up with family and friends, but there are also dangers involved by oversharing, including:

    Oversharing – it is not a good idea to post your address or phone number on social media sites. This can lead to identity theft. People may pretend to be you using your personal information. Advertising scammers may use your personal information to target you with scam ads.
     Sharing your present location – home invasion robbers just love to know where you are and when you aren’t home.     Photos – be aware that people can get your location from pictures that you post. People may also steal your picture and personal information and create a fake account pretending to be you… and who knows what they may post, which can lead to you having a damaged reputation.     Posting information about your disability - might lead to discrimination and cyberbullying. People who disagree with your opinions may also bully you online, feeling safe to do so without having to face you in person.     It’s there forever. What you post on the internet stays on the internet. If you post hurtful information about your friends, it will be there for everyone to see (cross reference “News or Gossip” in the Leisure domain).