![]() ![]() Positive does NOT mean good and Negative does NOT mean bad when it comes to conditioning. Often, people confuse negative reinforcement with punishment because of the meaning we place on the word ‘negative.’ When it comes to behaviorism, the most important thing to remember is this: The meaning of 'positive' and 'negative', 'reinforcement' and 'punishment' This month we’ll do a recall question on the topic, and next month we’ll do an application question. This month we are diving into a commonly misunderstood topic: negative reinforcement. In June and July we covered the differences between Bipolar 1 and Bipolar 2. April and May were all about Antisocial Personality Disorder. In February and March we covered Narcissistic Personality Disorder. ![]() ![]() Every two months this year, we're taking a topic that could show up on the ASWB exams and comparing two ways it could be tested. If you are interested in learning more, check out this clip from the famous show Big Bang Theory where Sheldon provides an explanation on the difference between Negative Reinforcement and Positive Punishment.So, after a 2 month hiatus to cover recent changes to the NASW code of ethics, we are back with another ASWB practice question! This month we continue our series comparing recall vs. Extending the above example, if a child is repeatedly being sent to the office during maths class, then being sent to the office isn’t acting as punishment because it isn’t reducing the child’s “acting up” behaviour, it is maintaining it. What this means is that the more an ABA practitioner sees a behaviour, the more likely it is that the person is getting some kind of reward or relief from the behaviour. In ABA the way we learn about a person’s behaviour is by watching them. While the teacher was attempting to decrease the child’s disruptive behaviour, they may have actually increased it instead. In fact, it is possible that being sent to the principal's office for “acting out” in maths class is preferable to attending maths class for this child. A typical way for a teacher to “punish” the child may be to send them to the office for their behaviour, but this may not be punishing at all. A child struggles with math and often whines and “acts up” right before and during maths class. So, how does negative reinforcement get confused with punishment? Consider this example. The loss, or cost, isn’t desirable and we are less likely to engage in the behaviour again. Think of lending a favorite item to a friend and never seeing it again, or getting a speeding ticket. As humans we tend to want to minimize our costs and avoid losing things that are precious to us. Negative Punishment can be thought of as cost, or loss. The uncomfortable feeling hurts and we are less likely to engage in the behaviour again. Think of your mother saying she is “really disappointed in you”, or falling on some ironshore when rough-housing on the beach. As humans we tend to avoid pain as best we can and reduce doing things that lead to pain. Positive punishment can be thought of as pain, though not necessarily physical. It might help to think of positive punishment as pain, and negative punishment as cost. There are two types of punishment: positive and negative. Many people think of punishment as typical aversive procedures, like reprimands, scolding, and even spankings, but often these things don’t reduce behaviour the way we would like. Punishment on the other hand is a strategy designed to decrease behaviour and refers to something being added or removed immediately after the behaviour takes place. This type of reinforcement is aimed at increasing a behaviour and should not be thought of as punishment. The beeping is undesirable and engaging in the behaviour of putting on your seatbelt removes the beep. An example would be when you get into your car and it starts beeping before you put on your seatbelt. Negative reinforcement involves the relief of something undesirable being removed. Though they often get confused, it is probably best to first explain what those in the ABA field mean by the terms negative reinforcement and punishment. ![]()
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