Skinner Assignment Ch. 12 Maggie Renner
Maggie Renner
1. According to Skinner, how common is the use of punishment?
Punishment is a very common technique, especially when looking to gain
control. Punishment is used everyday by different systems whether it's
within legal systems, police systems, or within the relationship
between a parent and his or her child. Punishment is used to reduce
tendencies and correct behavior.
2. What does Skinner dislike about the use of punishment to control
behavior? (2 things) (P.183 top)
One thing Skinner does not like about punishment as a way to control
behavior is it has disadvantages to both the person being punished and
the person doing the punishing. Punishment creates emotions including
the emotions "to escape or to retaliate", which can be extremely
detrimental. Another speculation is more recent and suggests that
punishment may not do what it is supposed to. Even though a tendency
may be able to be reduced, this reduction is not necessarily
permanent.
3. How did E.L. Thorndike revise his punishment theory?
At first, Thorndike saw, after experimenting with cats, that
reinforcement can be used to "stamp in" rewarded behavior (also known
as operant conditioning), and saw the effectiveness of using
punishment to "stamp out" unwanted behavior. He later revised this
after experimentation with humans, and used "right" as reinforcement
and "wrong" as punishment, and saw that saying "right" strengthened
the behavior but using "wrong" did not necessarily weaken a behavior.
4. Are the effects of punishment short-term or long-term?
The effects of punishment are short-term. In an experiment with
animals, it was found that the punishing responses to behavior reduced
the behavior at the beginning of the extinction curve, but that the
curve rose again when punishment was discontinued.
5. How does Skinner define punishment (2 ways) on page 185?
Skinner defines punishment as withdrawing a positive reinforcement or
presenting a negative reinforcement.
6. According to Skinner, what is the.......
first effect of punishment?
The first effect of punishment is an aversive stimulus confined to the
immediate situation. It is temporary. The stimulus may also include
emotional predispositions.
second effect of punishment?
The second effect of punishment is behavior that has consistently been
punished becomes the source of conditioned stimuli which evoke
incompatible behavior. (ex. lying, glands and smooth muscles respond,
guilt, shame etc..) The behavior is temporarily suppressed, more or
less effectively, by an emotional reaction.
third effect of punishment? The third effect of punishment is the
conditioning of aversive stimuli which serve as negative reinforcers.
Any behavior which reduces this conditioned aversive stimulation will
be reinforced. This effect is the most important because it
establishes aversive conditions which are avoided by the behavior of
“doing something else.” As the punishment is repeatedly avoided, the
conditioned negative reinforcer becomes extinct. The aversive effect
must be reinstated from time to time.
7. Name 3 of the [unfortunate] by-products of punishment.
1. Punished behavior often evokes reflexes characteristic of fear,
anxiety, and other emotions.
2. The incompatible behavior that blocks the punished response
resembles external physical restraint and can generate rage or
frustration. In this case, those responsible for these emotional
patterns have self-generated the rage or frustration and no
appropriate escape behavior is available.
3. When the behavior being punished is a reflex, such as crying, the
behavior has not been conditioned according to the operant formula and
therefore it is not usually possible to reinforce or execute the
opposite of this behavior. Skinner believes this is the most
troublesome form of punishment.
8. What would be 4 alternatives to punishment as a way of getting rid
of undesirable behavior?
1. Modifying the circumstances in an operant is an alternative that
works best in emotional circumstances.
2. Having a developmental schedule works especially well with young
children.
3. The most effective alternative process is extinction. For example,
a parent “paying no attention” to the objectionable behavior of his
child. This technique has no unfortunate by-products.
4. Conditioning incompatible behavior through positive reinforcement
is another technique often used to control a tendency toward emotional
display. This reinforcements stoical behavior instead of punishing
emotional behavior.