Punishment

Description of the Strategy

In colloquial terms, punishment has moral overtones: an unpleasant thing done to people who “deserve” to be punished due to violations of laws or social norms. From a behavioral perspective, punishment has a neutral and operational definition that is not necessarily linked to the hedonic value of the stimuli involved or the intent of the punishment. Punishment is defined as an operation or environmental change that, when made contingent on behavior, reduces the probability or likelihood of that behavior in the future. In other words, certain results or consequences of behavior, whether caused by or coincidental with the behavior, serve to decrease the probability of that behavior in the future. This process is called punishment in behavioral terminology. There is no judgment as to whether the punishment was deserved or the outcome was beneficial, but rather punishment is a process whereby the rate of behavior is reduced. The term punishment can describe both the procedure involving the delivery of a punisher and the effect that results from the operation (i.e., decrease in responding).

Punishment can occur either by the introduction of a stimulus contingent upon a behavior or by the termination of an ongoing stimulus situation. The term positive punishment describes the process of adding or presenting a punishing stimulus after a behavior or response has been performed. Generally, these stimuli are considered to be aversive or unpleasant. The presentation of an aversive stimulus is the most familiar form of punishment, and it corresponds most closely with the layperson's concept of punishment. All animal species need punishment in the behavioral sense, as it serves to teach the organism which behaviors lead to pain, discomfort, or danger and to avoid those dangers in the future. Touching a hot stove, even if accidental, results in a more careful approach to the stove in the future. Without this learning mechanism, organisms would be doomed to repeat behaviors that may result in discomfort, injury, or even death.

Punishment can also occur when an ongoing stimulus situation is terminated contingent upon a response or behavior. This process is called negative punishment. The ongoing stimulus situation is usually assumed to be positive, pleasant, or enjoyable so that its termination is unpleasant. For example, a teenage boy enjoying his date accidentally calls her by another girl's name. The date becomes upset and, perhaps, asks to be taken home, thereby turning the pleasant interaction between boy and date into an unpleasant one. The boy is less likely to call his date by another name in the future as a result of her reaction (a consequence of his behavior), and therefore the process of punishment has taken place. Behaviorally defined, if a contingent reduction in reinforcement density leads to a decrease in the rate of a behavior, the behavior can be said to have been punished. Negative punishment forms the basis for common punishment techniques, such as time-out or grounding, that will be discussed later.

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