Punishment : why do you punish a child Pt1.

Punishment differs from negative reinforcement in that it aims to decrease the likelihood of the response occurring. Punishment is the introduction of an unpleasant stimuli such as a hit or yell, whereas negative reinforcement is taking away the unpleasant stimulus to increase the probability of the response occurring.

Potential punishers are any consequences which might lead to a decrease in the response. Some consequences may be punishers for some people but not others.

Side-effects of punishment include aggression, frustration, avoidance learning, escape learning and learned helplessness. The punishment may not decrease the behaviour at all but teach the child to be aggressive or avoid the punisher. Sometimes the punishment ends up being positive reinforcement or only serves to satisfy the frustration of the punisher.

Effective punishment should address the person's actions and not the person's character. It should be related to the undesirable behaviour and it should consist of penalties or response cost (the removal of a reinforcer) rather than psychological or physical pain.