Chapter 10- Punishment

Question 1

Punishment:

Answer 1

• Responding produces aversive outcome
  
  • i.e. touch hot stove, get burned
  • Positive contingency

Question 2

Passive Avoidance:

Answer 2

• Punishment

* Safety achieved by not responding

Question 3

Overcorrection:

Answer 3

• Requires a person to not only rectify what was done badly but to overcorrect for the mistake
  
  • i.e. child who put something in his mouth asked to remove object and to wash out his mouth with antiseptic solution

Question 4

Availability of Alternative Reinforced Responses:

Answer 4

• If punished response if the only activity available for obtaining reinforcement, punishment will be much less effective than if an alternative reinforced response is made available with introduction of punishment
  
  • i.e. children punished for playing with certain toys much less likely to play with these toys if they are allowed to play with other toys instead

Question 5

Discriminative Punishment:

Answer 5

• Responding is punished in presence of discriminative stimulus but is not punished when stimulus is absent
  
  • Suppressive effects of punishment will come to be limited in presence of discriminative stimulus
  • i.e. children who have strict teachers learn to supress bad behaviour only when those teachers are present

Question 6

Punishment as a Signal for Availability of Positive Reinforcement:

Answer 6

• Individuals may seek out punishment if positive reinforcement is available only when instrumental response is also punished
  
  • Punishment becomes cue for availability of positive reinforcement

Question 7

Conditioned Emotional Response Theory of Punishment:

Answer 7

• CS paired with shock will suppress performance of food reinforced instrumental behaviour
  
  • Does not involve CS that signals delivery of aversive stimulus, various stimuli individual experiences just before making the punished response serves as the CS
  • i.e. crossing fence results in shock, spatial cues act as CS

Question 8

Avoidance Theory of Punishment:

Answer 8

• Punishment as a form of avoidance behaviour
  
  • Stimuli that accompanies instrumental response acquire aversive properties when response is punished
  • Organisms learn to escape from conditioned aversive stimuli related to punished response by engaging in other behaviour that is incompatible with punished activity
  • Performing alternate behaviour results in suppression of punished behaviour

Question 9

Negative Law of Effect:

Answer 9

• Punishment results in strong response to avoid punishment and causes a reduction in sensitivity to relative reinforcement rates
  
  • Punishment 3 times more effective in changing response preference than reinforcement