Psychology

In conditioning individual to learn to behave or act in a particular way, an external stimulus is required to increase the probability of the desired response and a habitual acquisition of the same (Flora, 2004). For example, while training a dog to sit down on command, one approach may be giving it a reward when it exhibits the desired response. This is called reinforcement and is a very essential component of the learning experience not only in animals but also on human beings of all calibers. There are three main forms of reinforcement negative reinforcement, positive reinforcement and punishment.

Positive reinforcement involves giving a reward for any good done or the demonstration of a desired response (Flora, 2004). The example given above is a demonstration of positive reinforcement. My mother, when I was in school, used to congratulate me whenever my academic performance improved and by such, I developed a habit of putting an extra effort to pass my examinations.

Negative reinforcement is the application of a negative stimulus to force the subject to abandon or embrace a certain response (Flora, 2004). For example, I used to have a roommate who smoked. I continually nagged him complaining that his breath was unbearable until one day when he decided to quit and I ceased complaining. He never smoked again, afraid that the nagging would resume.

Punishment as a response reinforcing strategy includes doing something aversive to the subject to reduce the probability of undertaking a specific activity or showing a specific response. It aims to stop or weaken a particular behavior because a negative condition would be experienced in response to the behavior (Flora, 2004).  Spanking is an example of punishment. Punishment is generally disliked, and to avoid it, a subject will most likely behave in a manner as to avoid it all together.