Reinforcement, Punishment and Extinction

The following information is from Unit 2 of the book Teaching: A Course in Psychology by Wesley C. Becker, Siegfried Engelmann, and Don R. Thomas. 

Note: Science Research Associates published the book in 1971. I am unsure if the publishers reprinted the book or if it is available to buy. I found it through a university inter-library loan program. I suspect that Becker or Engelmann use the book or some form of it in their special education teaching classes at the University of Oregon.

• Punishment vs. extinction
• Punishment: denying a reinforcement
• Extinction: denying a reinforcement for only one type of behavior

• How to use consequent stimuli:
• Use reinforcement when you want to increase or strengthen a behavior
• Use punishment (no reinforcement in this unit) when you want to decrease or weaken a behavior
• Time out: deny all reinforcement for all behavior for a specified period of time
• Extinction: deny reinforcement for one behavior

Examples of when to use the consequent stimuli

1. A mother previously solved her young son’s tantrums with attention (telling him to stop or giving him something to appease him). A behaviorist helped the mother to use punishment and reinforcement by giving her three procedures of how she ought to respond to her son. The son’s behavior then improved.

Son’s behavior	Mother’s behavior
Shows a problem behavior (i.e. tantrum or kicking)	Gives him a warning signal
Continues a problem behavior	Puts him in his room and ignores him for a specified time
Plays and behaves appropriately	Gives him attention, praise, and affection

2. A teacher previously dealt with problem behaviors of two students by using threats that were ineffective. A behaviorist helped the teacher to use extinction and reinforcement by giving her three procedures of how she ought to respond to the two students and the class as a whole. The two students’ behavior improved.

Teacher’s behavior	Students’ behavior
Makes rules clear and repeats them as needed	Students know what teacher expects
Ignores problem behaviors and gives attention to students with appropriate behaviors	Students who show problem behaviors do not get teacher attention
Praise students for behavior improvement with specific praise and privileges (i.e. “you get to go to recess early because you finished your work neatly and carefully ”)	Students who show appropriate behaviors get teacher attention, praise, and privileges

Terms:

• Consequent stimulus: follows a response and strengthens it or weakens it
• Reinforcer: follows a response and strengthens it
• Reinforcement: the procedure to use a reinforcing stimulus
• Punisher: follows a response and weakens it
• Punishment: the procedure to use a punishing stimulus
• Extinction: follows a response and weakens it by providing no reinforcing stimulus for that response
• Time out: follows a response and weakens it by providing no reinforcing stimulus of any response for a period of time