Chapter 13 Flashcards
What is a punisher? Give an example that you experienced, and identify both the response and the punisher.
Punisher- is an immediate consequence of an operant behaviour that causes that behaviour to decrease in frequency. An example would be a 7 year old child hitting his classmates (response) and would get punished by contingent exercise every time for hitting (punisher).
State the principle of punishment
A punishment (1)occurs immediately after the problem behaviour (2) it is not a form of moral sanction, vengeance, or retribution; (3)it is not used to deter others from engaging in the target behaviour.
How does the meaning of the word punishment for behavior modifiers differ from three meanings of that word for most people?
In behaviour modification punishment is simply a technical term referring to the application of an immediate consequence following a specific behaviour (the consequence of touching a hot stove teaches us to not do it again). Rather than for example: somebody going to prison is a punishment in our culture, but going to prison is not likely to be an immediate consequence for committing the crime. Or immediately receiving a traffic ticket after speeding, is also not considered a punisher because legal consequences for crime often do not function as punishers in the technical sense.
Define unconditioned punisher, and give an example that illustrates the complete definition.
Unconditional punishers are stimuli that are punishing without prior learning for example: spanking, slaps, pinches, hair tugging, extreme cold or heat,loud sounds. (these examples are also included as physical punishers)
Describe or define four different types of punishers, and give an example of each
(1) Physical punishers- stimuli that activate pain receptors (which are technically called nociceptors). Example:electric shock
(2) Reprimand punishers: A strong negative verbal stimulus immediately contingent on behaviour. Example: saying “No! That was bad!” immediately after a child emits an undesirable behaviour
(3) Timeout punishers: period of time immediately following a particular behaviour during which an individual loses the opportunity to earn reinforcers. 2 types: exclusionary timeout: removing an individual briefly from a reinforcing situation immediately following a behaviour (often a special room, called “timeout room”). A non exclusionary timeout consists of introducing into the situation, immediately following a behaviour, a stimulus associated with less reinforcement. example: children in a classroom wore a ribbon that was removed for a short time when a child was disruptive- when not wearing a ribbon child was not allowed to participate in activities.
(4) response cost: removal of a specified amount of a reinforcer immediately following a behaviour. Example: loss of tokens (each of which could be exchanged for 1 minute of recess)
Distinguish between an exclusionary and nonexclusionary timeout.
An exclusionary timeout: removing an individual briefly from a reinforcing situation immediately following a behaviour (often a special room, called “timeout room”).
A non-exclusionary timeout consists of introducing into the situation, immediately following a behaviour, a stimulus associated with less reinforcement. example: children in a classroom wore a ribbon that was removed for a short time when a child was disruptive- when not wearing a ribbon child was not allowed to participate in activities.
State the procedures for extinction, response cost, and exclusionary timeout.
The procedure of extinction: (a) If an individual, in a given situation, emits a previously reinforced behaviour and that behaviour is not followed by a reinforcer, (b)then that person is less likely to do the same thing again when next encountering a similar situation. For example: when a child receives attention for his headaches and complaining it is possible that the attention was a positive reinforcer in maintaining the high frequency of the pain behaviours. When the pain behaviours no longer received attention, their frequency decreased to a low level
procedure of response cost: removal of a specified amount of a reinforcer immediately following a behaviour. Example: loss of tokens (each of which could be exchanged for 1 minute of recess).
procedure of exclusionary timeout: removing an individual briefly from a reinforcing situation immediately following a behaviour (often a special room, called “timeout room”).
Distinguish between the direct-acting and indirect-acting effects of punishment. Give an example of each.
The direct acting effects of punishment are the decreased frequency of a response because of its immediate punishing consequences i.e. a child burns finger when playing with matches (they probably won’t do that again).
The indirect acting effect of punishment is the weakening of a response that is followed by a punisher even though the punisher is delayed
i.e. a child colours on the wall in marker when they know they shouldn’t and their mother doesn’t notice the colouring on the wall until weeks later, still punishes the child.
Compare SD to SDp. Give an example of each from your own experience.
S^D is a stimulus in the presence of which a response will be reinforced. An example includes, a child burping in presence of friends to gain their approval through laughter. S^Dp is a stimulus in the presence of which a response will be punished. An example includes, a teacher is in a bad mood, and the children in their class avoid asking redundant questions when they sense that their teacher is in a bad mood because they don’t want to be punished.
Compare S△ to SDp. Give an example of each from your own experience.
S^Dp is a stimulus in the presence of which a response will be punished. An example includes, a teacher is in a bad mood, and the children in their class avoid asking redundant questions when they sense that their teacher is in a bad mood because they don’t want to be punished. S delta is a stimulus in the presence of which a response will not be reinforced. An example includes, a child burping in the presence of their parents. The parents ignore this behaviour, so the behaviour becomes extinct.
What are four guidelines in regard to delivering a punisher?
- The punisher should be presented immediately following the undesirable behaviour.
- The punisher should be presented following every instance of the undesirable behaviour.
- The delivery of the punisher should not be paired with positive reinforcement.
- The person administering the punisher should remain calm when doing so.
In two or three sentences, describe either the case of the lemon juice therapy with Sandra or the ice cube therapy with Gerri.
The case of the lemon juice therapy with Sandra was an example of therapeutic punishment. Sandra (the baby) was admitted to a hospital because she was undernourished and underweight because Sandra was ruminating the milk she was given and re-swallowing it along with spitting most of it up. To eliminate this, the doctors administered lemon juice as a punisher when the doctors senses the tongue movements that preceding the ruminating behaviour to eliminate the behaviour of ruminating the milk. This effectively worked after 16 treatments to minimized the ruminating behaviour.
The case of the ice cube therapy with Gerri was an example of therapeutic punishment. Gerri was diagnosed with the case of bruxism, which ground her teeth after gaining her adult teeth. To eliminate this grinding of the teeth, an ice cube was pressed on her face as a pain-inducing punishment procedure. After a few days the behaviour decreased, and after 2 months her behaviour completely ceased.
Cite six potential harmful side effects of the application of punishment.
- Aggressive behaviour.
- Emotional behaviour.
- Escape and avoidance behaviour.
- No new behaviour.
- Modeling of punishment.
- Overuse of punishment.
Give an example of functional communication training.
An example of functional communication training includes, ringing a bell as an alternative to self-abuse to obtain staff attention. The self-injurious behaviour was effectively eliminated.
