Generalized Conditioned Punisher

Description of the Strategy

A generalized conditioned punisher is a stimulus that exerts a punishing effect because it has been associated [Page 866]with punishing stimuli. In contrast with unconditioned punishment, in which the stimulus is in itself punishing, conditioned punishers are stimuli that decrease the likelihood that a child will engage in a behavior as a result of learning. Furthermore, they have the additional property that their effectiveness does not depend upon a specific punisher, as the stimulus represents different punishers. There are thus three conditions that define generalized conditioned punishers: (1) the event must decrease the likelihood that a behavior will occur again (punishment), (2) the event must not be punishing in and of itself, but it must provide punishment through learning (conditioning), and (3) the event must be associated with two or more punishing events (generalization).

Generalized conditioned punishers are uncommon and are not widely employed in behavior modification programs. However, time-out from positive reinforcement, which is very commonly used in programs to manage child behavior, rely on similar mechanisms for punishment. In time-out programs, which emphasize time-out from positive reinforcement, the mechanism of action is negative punishment, in which a positively reinforcing stimulus is removed for a time in order to decrease the likelihood that a child will continue to engage in a particular behavior. Time-out is a generalized punisher in that the particular reinforcing stimulus changes, depending on the specific situation a child is involved in. For example, in one situation, the reinforcer may be parent attention, while in another it may be peer attention, or it may be participation in a reinforcing activity such as a sports game or recess. Timeout is a conditioned punisher because the behavior required by the time-out system is not necessarily punishing in and of itself, but it becomes punishing as a result of repeated trials as the child learns to associate time-out with the removal of reinforcing stimuli.

Punishers are used to decrease the likelihood that a child will engage in an undesired behavior (or engage in a desired behavior). As generalized conditioned punishers are associated with more than one particular undesired object or activity, they decrease the likelihood that an object or activity loses its punishing properties and allow more flexibility in applying punishing stimuli. For example, time-out can be used appropriately in nearly any context, regardless of the specific stimulus that is reinforcing a particular behavior. Therefore, the punishing stimulus need not be matched to a particular reinforcing stimulus, as long as it is matched to a specific behavior.

Research Basis

Generalized conditioned punishers have not been studied within the context of laboratory or clinical settings. However, time-out and other specific types of generalized conditioned punishers have been included in treatment studies of children with externalizing disorders. The majority of treatments involving use of time-out are employed in parent training and child management programs. While some of these programs have established effectiveness through randomized trials, they do not usually include systematic evaluations of generalized conditioned punishers and their effectiveness compared to other types of punishers or reinforcement systems. Rather, generalized conditioned punishment systems such as time-out are usually evaluated as an integral part of an overall treatment package. A number of single-subject design studies have investigated the effects of time-out alone, and these studies indicate that time-out has a powerful suppressive effect on targeted behaviors.

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