Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Reinforcement
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.
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.
# posted by John @ 1:44 PM 
