In the last sections we were
talking about some applications of punishment. In this section we begin to
talk about some side effects of punishment and how they impact behavior.
So, let’s begin by going to slide two. The first thing that can happen with
any kind of punishment technique is that you can get emotional reactions.
Usually this occurs in any kind of organism, but it’s usually of short
duration, and as you know if you’ve ever done some kind of punishment
technique with a child, you know what that can be.
A second side effect is aggression. Basically elimination
of responses with punishment techniques can cause the organism who’s being
punished to attack nearby individuals or persons delivering the punishment.
That’s why in clinics that use punishment techniques, the therapist never
delivers the punishing stimuli. However, if an organism is aggressive,
usually punishing the aggressive behavior will reduce that behavior. This
stimulus does not usually does not need to be intense. However, again one
needs to note that aggression can occur. The third side effect and problem
of punishment relates to imitation and modeling of the punishing technique.
Kids imitate by hitting each other, etc., and receive some kind of
punishment. Usually the way punishment procedures are passed on from one
generation to the next occurs by imitation and modeling. For example,
slapping the hand of a kid running in the street can be effective, but
sitting the kid in the chair in a time-out situation can also be just as
effective. However, other techniques such as smacking the kid in the mouth
may be punishing but is also abusive as well. So again, these different
problems have major impacts. Not only with the person who is receiving the
punishment, but what happens to the next generation of kids.
The next problem relates to punishment is shown in slide
five. Frankly, punishment doesn’t generalize well. Organisms very easily
discriminate between situations. The best way to get generalization is to
punish the behavior in all situations, and when the behavior initially
occurs. So, if Johnny or Susie is acting out and throwing a temper tantrum
at home and you punish that, when they start to act out in the store, you
also need to punish it there as well. If you do that, you will get major
reductions in behavior, but the side effects of the embarrassment and
assorted other things can also be problematic.
The most important aspect within punishment (although the
others are important as well) is that it disrupts social relationships and
is shown in slide six. Generally when you use punishment, the person who’s
receiving the punisher tries to escape from the situation where the punisher
is provided. The classic example goes with a spouse. If one spouse decides
to use a punisher for some kind of inappropriate behavior, the punished
person may just file for a divorce. So it’s something to think about when
one’s trying to use that. The best way to overcome this escape is to
reinforce alternative behaviors. This ultimately reduces the punished
behavior and increases the reinforced behavior.
The final thing (as we see in slide seven) is to reinforce
alternative behaviors and extinguish negative behaviors. This gives the
best results in general. However, if one is going to use punishment
techniques, one should be very clear about the technique that one’s using.
One should also be monitoring the behavior to make sure the behavior is
going down. Finally, one should be reinforcing some alternative behavior so
good behavior increases.
In the next section, we will begin talking about a new
major type of learning and that is called cognitive learning, so until that
time, we hope you have a great day.
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