Ch. 6: Punishment Flashcards
Two ways of punishment?
- Add a stimulus + positive punishment (hitting child)
2.Remove a stimulus - negative punishment (no wifi)
What are punishers?
Punishers are things we will escape or avoid given the opportunity. They are defined by their effect on behaviour. If it doesn’t decrease the behaviour then it’s not a punisher.
Variables of Punishment: Contingency
How reliable the consequence is. The degree of correlation between a behaviour and its consequence.
Ex: A child touches a hot stove. Every time they touch the stove, they feel pain (punishment). They quickly learn not to touch the stove because the punishment (pain) happens every time they do it, and it only happens when they touch the stove.
Variables of Punishment: Contiguity
Nearness of events in time (temporal contiguity) or space (spatial contiguity). The longer the delay (less contiguity), the slower the learning.
Ex: giving a time out to a temper tantrum immediately (high contiguity) vs giving a time out the next day (low contiguity).
Variables of Punishment: Intensity
Larger (more intense) punishment = more success. Using an effective level of punishment from the beginning is very important.
Ethics: If punishment is to be used, it must be intense enough to suppress the behaviour dramatically.
Risks: behaviour doesn’t get suppressed, more instances of punishment required, greater intensities end up being required.
Variables of Punishment: reinforcement of behaviour
Effectiveness of the punisher is determined by the effectiveness of the reinforcers maintaining the behaviour.
Variables of Punishment: Reinforcement of Behaviour
Effectiveness of the punisher is determined by the effectiveness of reinforcer(s) maintaining the behaviour.
Variables of Punishment: Alternative sources of Reinforcement
Providing other means of obtaining the reinforcement that maintains the punished behaviour will suppress the behaviour more effectively.
Ex: pulling the knob to get a cigarette with loud noise vs pressing the button to get a cigarette with no noise
Cons of Punishment: Reinforcement to the one punishing
Can lead to overuse of punishment and make punisher rely on negative action to control behaviour rather than positive strategies.
Ex:
Positive reinforcement: Teacher praised for running a tight ship
Negative reinforcement: Undesirable classroom behaviours, such as talking disruptively, may stop with little effort (Negatively reinforcing teacher)
Cons of punishment: Escape and Avoidance
Punishment can induce escape and avoidance behaviours.
Ex: struggling free, fawning, lying, stealing, crying, fawning, suicide.
Cons of punishment: Aggression
Often a form of escape. Especially true when other means of escape are impossible. Negatively reinforced. Not always directed at the punishing source and often directed at inanimate objects and attack may be used as reinforcer.
Ex: husband mad at work attacks his wife.
Cons of punishment: Apathy
If no alternative behaviours are reinforced the organism may just ‘do nothing’ at all and exhibit a malaise or apathy.
NOT the same as learned helplessness.
Cons of punishment: Acceptable behaviours
Doesn’t teach acceptable behaviours. Punishment only decreased behaviour. Acceptable behaviours still need to be reinforced.
Ex: A child is punished for drawing on wall may draw on table. Behaviour (drawing on wall) is decreased but acceptable behaviour hasn’t been shown.
Cons of punishment: Abuse
Punishment often ‘gets out of hand’ or is used in damaging and harmful ways.
Ex: corporal punishment progresses in intensity (parent hitting child too hard or shaking a baby)
Negative punishment preferred (removing internet from teen, timeouts)
Cons of punishment: Imitation
Imitation of the punisher
Ex: parents hit kids so the kids hit their friends.
