The first time I recall hearing about the distinction between reinforcement and punishment was when residing in a children’s home in 1991. There, each child was required to participate in a program designed for behavior shaping—a systematic approach to modifying a person’s actions.
Before proceeding any further with this blogpost, it may be useful to define concepts. In colloquial terms, reinforcement is defined as the action of strengthening or encouraging something. The American Psychological Association (APA) defines reinforcement thusly:
1. in operant conditioning, a process in which the frequency or probability of a response is increased by a dependent relationship, or contingency, with a stimulus or circumstance (the reinforcer).
2. the procedure that results in the frequency or probability of a response being increased in such a way.
3. in classical conditioning, the presentation of an unconditioned stimulus after a conditioned stimulus.
Both operant and classical conditioning serve as forms of behavior shaping. However, operant conditioning associates a voluntary behavior and a consequence (e.g., rewarding a dog with a desirable treat after the successful retrieval of a ball).
Classical conditioning associates an involuntary response and a stimulus (e.g., ringing a bell when presenting food to a dog with salivation then occurring simultaneously). Conditioning or shaping of this sort, which includes punishment, works with humans and other animal species.
In colloquial terms, punishment is defined as the imposition of a penalty on a subject for a fault, offense, or violation. Similarly, the APA defines punishment thusly:
1. a physically or psychologically painful, unwanted, or undesirable event or circumstance imposed as a penalty on an actual or perceived wrongdoer.
2. in operant conditioning, the process in which the relationship, or contingency, between a response and some stimulus or circumstance results in the response becoming less probable.
Prior to placement in a children’s home, I was less familiar with reinforcement than punishment. Both of my parents used corporal punishment. Likewise, I received swats at school. Sometimes, I received a paddling at school on the same day as being whipped with a belt at home.
Once placed in a residential setting, houseparents of the children’s home used a “point system” that served as a behavior shaping strategy whereby children earned points for preferred behavior (reinforcement) while receiving a loss of privileges for undesired actions (punishment).
Earned points were exchanged for rewards such as extra privileges or special activities after accumulating to a set amount (e.g., playing videogames for an hour). Removed points resulted in a loss of privileges and activities, as well as assignment of extra chores (e.g., mopping the floor).
With less emphasis on the punitive aspect of our system, the children’s home point system was focused on reinforcement using a token economy, about which one source states “is a system of contingency management based on the systematic reinforcement of target behavior.”
I recall one day when a forthright houseparent sat down with members of the all-boys cottage in which I resided and matter-of-factly stated something to the effect of, “Statistically, each of you will wind up incarcerated, so the point system is designed to make each of you model inmates.”
I appreciated his candor, though I didn’t welcome the thought of my future having supposedly been determined by designers of a token economy. Nevertheless, one difficult lesson I’ve learned in life is that it doesn’t matter what I do or don’t appreciate. Life is what life is.
This ideal-world versus real-world distinction is worth understanding. More important than this, using the perspective of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), is that an individual may self-disturb when using irrational beliefs about how things should, must, or ought to be.
Thus, when I was twice placed on pretrial confinement in a military brig during 2002, I learned the difference between ideal- and real-world function. Rather than self-disturbing about how I shouldn’t have ended up incarcerated, I momentarily relied on my former point system lessons.
Relying on my token economy upbringing, I earned trustee status—the position of an inmate who’s earned the trust of brig authorities and who’s given special privileges to perform certain tasks within the facility (e.g., mopping the floor instead of having to remain in a cell).
Trustee status was a form of positive reinforcement whereby I was afforded the privilege of getting out of my small cell while I mopped the floor of the pod in which I was a resident. Although this may not seem like a desirable outcome, trustee was a coveted position in the brig.
Alternatively, my pretrial confinement served as a form of negative punishment whereby my liberty was taken away in order to decrease the likelihood of the undesired behavior of allegedly continuing to violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice. I made the most of my situation.
Granting that I didn’t appreciate when a houseparent told me what the behavior shaping component of a point system represented, it ultimately served me well when in the brig. For that difficult lesson regarding reinforcement and punishment, I was grateful.
Not long after discharging from military service, I began working on an undergraduate degree in occupational education with a focus on justice administration. I later went on to earn graduate degrees in counseling and social work (separately, not concurrently).
During that time, I learned more about positive and negative reinforcement, as well as positive and negative punishment. Herein, I’ll briefly describe the associated distinctions as they relate to operant conditioning. According to one source:
In discussing operant conditioning, we use several everyday words—positive, negative, reinforcement, and punishment—in a specialized manner. In operant conditioning, positive and negative do not mean good and bad. Instead, positive means you are adding something, and negative means you are taking something away.
Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior, and punishment means you are decreasing a behavior. Reinforcement can be positive or negative, and punishment can also be positive or negative. All reinforcers (positive or negative) increase the likelihood of a behavioral response. All punishers (positive or negative) decrease the likelihood of a behavioral response.
One person who helped me to better understand reinforcement and punishment in adulthood was my late stepmom who worked in a human resources position. Using examples which I learned from her, consider the following:
Positive reinforcement – Add something in order to increase the likelihood of a preferred behavior. Example: An employee receives a raise for having exceeded quarterly expectations.
Negative reinforcement – Remove something in order to increase the likelihood of a preferred behavior. Example: Management meetings are reduced to only once per week so that employees can spend more time focusing on job tasks.
Positive punishment – Add something in order to decrease the likelihood of an undesired behavior. Example: An employee receives a written admonishment for having violated a company guideline.
Negative punishment – Remove something in order to decrease the likelihood of an undesired behavior. Example: An employee is placed on suspension for one week after having violated a company guideline.
REBT is a form of cognitive behavior therapy that uses reinforcement and punishment in order to help people achieve desired interests and goals (i.e., chosen behavior that leads to success). This is one of the reasons REBT is designed to help people get better and not merely feel better.
Concerning this approach, one source states that teaching clients to increase the number of rewarding activities in their daily activity became an early operant intervention for depression and is still considered the first-line intervention for depression today.
REBT addresses depressive symptoms, as well as a host of other matters regarding self-disturbance. Understanding about reinforcement and punishment is an integral step toward addressing such matters. If you’d like to know more, I look forward to hearing from you.
If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
APA Dictionary of Psychology. (2018, April 19). Punishment. American Psychological Association. Retrieve from https://dictionary.apa.org/punishment
APA Dictionary of Psychology. (2018, April 19). Reinforcement. American Psychological Association. Retrieve from https://dictionary.apa.org/reinforcement
General Psychology. (n.d.). Reinforcement and punishment. University of Central Florida. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.online.ucf.edu/lumenpsychology/chapter/operant-conditioning/
Hollings, D. (2024, May 19). Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/cognitive-behavior-therapy-cbt
Hollings, D. (2022, March 15). Disclaimer. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/disclaimer
Hollings, D. (2024, April 2). Four major irrational beliefs. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/four-major-irrational-beliefs
Hollings, D. (2023, October 12). Get better. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/get-better
Hollings, D. (n.d.). Hollings Therapy, LLC [Official website]. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/
Hollings, D. (2024, April 27). Ideal-world vs. real-world. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/ideal-world-vs-real-world
Hollings, D. (2024, January 2). Interests and goals. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/interests-and-goals
Hollings, D. (2023, September 19). Life coaching. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/life-coaching
Hollings, D. (2023, March 21). Matching bracelets. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/matching-bracelets
Hollings, D. (2023, September 3). On feelings. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/on-feelings
Hollings, D. (2024, May 5). Psychotherapist. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/psychotherapist
Hollings, D. (2022, March 24). Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rational-emotive-behavior-therapy-rebt
Hollings, D. (2022, November 1). Self-disturbance. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/self-disturbance
Hollings, D. (2022, October 7). Should, must, and ought. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/should-must-and-ought
Vernon, A. and Doyle, K. A. (2018). Cognitive behavior therapies: A guidebook for practitioners. American Counseling Association. Retrieved from http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/7719/1/872.pdf
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Classical conditioning. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Operant conditioning. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Token economy. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Token_economy
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