Positive good! … negative bad!
It is unfortunate that the words used to describe behavior in the science of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) are words that are very familiar to English speakers. I say unfortunate because some of these words are so familiar that they bring their own “emotive” baggage along with them.
For this article I will concentrate on four words; Positive, Negative, Reinforcement, and Punishment. These words are used in pairs to describe four different types of consequences that a trainer may apply after a behavior.
Let’s begin with Positive and Negative. When used in general language these words are often used to qualify something as good (positive) or bad (negative). A simple example would be having a positive attitude or a negative attitude. No problem understanding their use in that context. However in the context of ABA they have quite different meanings. Positive means that something was added to the environment and Negative means something was removed. There is no good or bad connotation implied. Hold on to that proposition while we deal with the other two words for a moment.
Reinforcement and Punishment are used to communicate the effect of the trainer’s action on the behavior that occurred immediately before the action. So, if the consequence an animal experiences right after a behavior increases the likelihood it will repeat the behavior then that consequence is Reinforcement. On the other hand if the consequence serves to reduce the behavior then it is Punishment. Now I can almost hear cries that one should never use punishment … remember I mentioned that some of these words come with baggage! Well Punishment is the grand-daddy of all of them for that. In general language punishment is loaded with emotive meaning and one of the challenges of understanding ABA and training is setting aside the preconceptions of this word. In an ABA context it simply means that the behavior is likely to decrease. For example; a parrot loves the company of its caregiver, when it screams for attention the caregiver leaves the room and that action reduces the screaming … that in ABA terms is punishment.
Let’s quickly review:
- Positive – add something
- Negative – remove something
- Reinforcement – increase the likelihood behavior will be repeated
- Punishment – decrease the likelihood behavior will be repeated
Now let’s put them together to build those often misunderstood ABA phrases.
- Positive reinforcement – A consequence that adds something to the environment that will increase the likelihood the behavior will be repeated.
- Negative reinforcement – A consequence that removes something from the environment that will increase the likelihood the behavior will be repeated.
- Positive punishment – A consequence that adds something to the environment that will decrease the likelihood the behavior will be repeated.
- Negative punishment – A consequence that removes something from the environment that will decrease the likelihood the behavior will be repeated.
Now that you have the basic terms down I recommend reading the article “The Facts about Punishment” by Dr Susan Friedman. In this article you will find some excellent information about punishment and also information about the downside of this all-too-often “go-to” strategy.
Finally don’t forget that if you have a question about what you read either here or in the referenced article send email to me at The Training Blog (TrainingBlog
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Sid.