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The one theory of influence almost everyone knows about is this one. And if you know only one approach, this can be good candidate. It works in a variety of situations, it can be simply applied, and it has just a few basic ideas. In fact, reinforcement theory boils down to a Main Point: Consequences influence behavior. Think about that for a moment. Consequences influence behavior.
It means that people do things because they know other things will follow. Thus, depending upon the type of consequence that follows, people will produce some behaviors and avoid others. Pretty simple. Pretty realistic, too. Reinforcement theory (consequences influence behavior) makes sense. There are three basic principles of this theory.
These are the Rules of Consequences. The three Rules describe the logical outcomes which typically occur after consequences. 1. Consequences which give Rewards increase a behavior. 2. Consequences which give Punishments decrease a behavior. 3. Consequences which give neither Rewards nor Punishments extinguish a behavior. These Rules provide an excellent blueprint for influence.
If you want to increase a behavior (make it more frequent, more intense, more likely), then when the behavior is shown, provide a Consequence of Reward. If you want to decrease a behavior (make it less frequent, less intense, less likely), then when the behavior is shown, provide a Consequence of Punishment. Finally, if you want a behavior to extinguish (disappear, fall out of the behavioral repertoire), then when the behavior is shown, then provide no Consequence (ignore the behavior). Now, the Big Question becomes, "What is a reward?" or "What is a punishment?" The answer is easy. What is a reward? Anything that increases the behavior.
What is a punisher? Anything that decreases the behavior. Yipes, is this circular reasoning or what? Rewards increase a behavior and anything that increases a behavior is a reward. What is going on here? What's going on is this: Reinforcement theory is a functional theory.
That means all of its components are defined by their function (how they work) rather than by their structure (how they look). Thus, there is no Consequences Cookbook where a teacher can look in the chapter, "Rewards for Fifth Grade Boys, " and find a long list of things to use as rewarding consequences. Think about this a minute. Many kids find candy to be rewarding. If they sit quietly in their chairs for five minutes and you give them each a sweet, those kids will learn to sit quietly.
The candy (Consequence of Reward) is used to increase the behavior of sitting quietly. So, we have discovered a Reward and can put it in the Consequences Cookbook, right? And then the next time your spouse spends the afternoon cleaning up some grubby corner of the basement all you have to do is give them a candy bar and next week you " ll find 'em in the bathroom scrubbing out the tub, right? Of course not. Candy functions as a reward in some circumstances, but candy has no effect in others. (If there was a Consequences Cookbook, don't you think the School Board would pay teachers with Smiley Face stickers instead of money? ) The functional nature of reinforcement theory is important to understand. It explains why the theory sometimes appears to be incorrect.
An example: when Sally Goodchild interrupts the class, Mrs. Reinforcer stops the class, tells Sally she's a naughty girl who broke Rule 24 and now must leave the classroom and go to the principle's office. Ouch! That really hurt Sally Goodchild. And Mrs. Reinforcer knows that when Sally returns, she will not interrupt.
Mrs. Reinforcer then goes to the teacher's lounge and sings the praises of this really great theory. Well, don't you know that the other kids in the class watched this event with great interest. And when Bad Bill interrupts the class, Mrs. Reinforcer stops the class, tells Bad Bill he's a naughty boy who broke Rule 24 and now must leave the classroom and go to the principle's office. Ouch!
That really hurt Bad Bill. And Mrs. Reinforcer knows when Bad Bill comes back to class, he will not interrupt, because he will want to avoid that wicked punisher. Well, we all know what happens next. Bad Bill comes back to class, immediately interrupts the lesson, Mrs. Reinforcer whacks him with the Consequence of Punishment, and Bad Bill keeps on interrupting, so he gets out of class.
Mrs. Reinforcer is totally confused at this point and she goes back to the teacher's lounge complaining about this stupid reinforcement theory. To understand if you have a Reward, you must observe its effect. If the Consequence increases the behavior you want to increase, viola, you have a Reward. If the Consequence decreases the behavior you want to decrease, then you have a Punishment. Most teachers have had the unfortunate experience of Mrs.
Reinforcer. They have persisted in giving a Consequence of Punishment and lo and behold, the kid keeps doing the bad thing. If the behavior does not increase or decrease the way you want it to, then you need to rethink your rewards and punishments. In summary, the main point of this theory is that consequences influence behavior.
Rewarding consequences increase behavior. Punishing consequences decrease behavior. No consequences extinguish a behavior. Finally, a consequence is known by its function (how it operates).
In the next section we consider how to put the Rules into effect. Here we learn how to apply the Rules. The Rules of Consequence are used in a three step sequence that defines the process of reinforcement. We can call these steps, When-Do-Get.
According to Reinforcement Theory, people learn several things during the process of reinforcement. First, they learn that certain behaviors (Step 2: Do) lead to consequences (Step 3: Get). This is the most obvious application of the Rules of Consequence. A student realizes that if she does well on an assignment (Do), then she will get a Rewarding Consequence of a pretty sticker (Get).
Another student discovers that if he speaks out inappropriately (Do), then he will receive the Punishing Consequence of reduced recess time (Get). But second, and as important, people learn that the Do-Get only works in certain situations (Step 1: When). For example, a child may discover that when she is with her parents (When) and she throws a temper tantrum (Do), she embarrasses them and they give her Rewards such as attention, toys, candy, or whatever (Get). Now when this child hits school and tries this trick, she is cruelly disappointed when the teacher provides a Punishing Consequence rather than a Rewarding Consequence. She soon learns that Tantrum -- - Reward only works When she is with Mom and Dad.
This is simple. When in some situation-Do some behavior-Get a consequence. And there are only three consequences, Rewarding, Punishing, and Ignoring. Let's look at some examples in action. One of the best examples of reinforcement I've ever heard came from an assistant football coach at a college. A little background: Some football players have trouble getting to team meetings.
When this happens the coaches want to Punish the players so they will be on time. What to do? The standard answer is extra exercise. When the team is in a workout, at the end of the session the coaches identify the tardy players and make them run extra laps or do more pushups, right? (When on this team, Do miss a team meeting, Get extra laps). Well, this coach had a better idea. At the end of the workout he called everyone together, identified the tardy players who missed the team meeting.
Then he made the rest of the team run extra laps while the tardy ones sat and watched. The coach claimed that this application had to be given only once a year. And I believe it. One teacher developed an excellent and memorable system of reinforcement. During tests in her mathematics class, she would quietly patrol the room, carefully observing the children. If she saw that o...
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Research essay sample on Reinforcement Theory Sit Quietly
