Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

204 CHAPTER 5 LearningpunishmentThe presentation of a stimulus or event followinga behavior that acts to decrease thelikelihood of the behavior’s being repeated.punishment by applicationA situation in which an operant is followedby the presentation or addition of an aversivestimulus; also called positive punishment.punishment by removalA situation in which an operant is followedby the removal or subtraction of a reinforcingstimulus; also called negative punishment.powerful conditioned reinforcers. Conditioned reinforcers can be as subtle as asmile, a touch, or a nod of recognition. Looking back at the Prologue, for example,Fern was reinforced by the laughter of her friends and relatives each time she told“the killer attic” tale—so she keeps telling the story!PunishmentUsing Aversive Consequences to Decrease BehaviorKey Theme• Punishment is a process that decreases the future occurrence of a behavior.Key Questions• What factors influence the effectiveness of punishment?• What effects are associated with the use of punishment to control behavior,and what are some alternative ways to change behavior?• What are discriminative stimuli?Positive and negative reinforcement are processes that increase the frequency of aparticular behavior. The opposite effect is produced by punishment. Punishment isa process in which a behavior is followed by an aversive consequence that decreasesthe likelihood of the behavior’s being repeated. Many people tend to confuse punishmentand negative reinforcement, but these two processes produce entirely differenteffects on behavior (see Table 5.2). Negative reinforcement always increasesthe likelihood that an operant will be repeated in the future. Punishment always decreasesthe future performance of an operant.Skinner (1953) identified two types of aversive events that can act as punishment.Punishment by application, also called positive punishment, involves a responsebeing followed by the presentation of an aversive stimulus. The word positive in thephrase positive punishment signifies that something is added or presented in the situation.In this case, it’s an aversive stimulus. Here are some everyday examples ofpunishment by application:• An employee wears jeans to work (the operant) and is reprimanded by hissupervisor for dressing inappropriately (the punishing stimulus).• You make a comment (the operant) in your workgroup meetings, and aco-worker responds with a sarcastic remark (the punishing stimulus).In each of these examples, if the presentation of the punishing stimulus has theeffect of decreasing the behavior it follows, then punishment has occurred.Although the punishing stimuli in these examples were administered by otherpeople, punishing stimuli also occur as natural consequences for some behaviors.Inadvertently touching a hot iron, a live electrical wire, or a sharp object (the operant)can result in a painful injury (the punishing stimulus).Table 5.2Comparing Punishment and Negative ReinforcementPunishment and negative reinforcementare two different processes that produceopposite effects on a given behavior.Punishment decreases the future performanceof the behavior, while negativereinforcement increases it.Process Operant Consequence Effect on BehaviorPunishment Using radar detector Receive speeding ticket Decrease use of radarand fine for illegal use detector in the futureof radar detectorNegative Using radar detector Avoid speeding ticket Increase use of radarreinforcement and fine detector in the future