Description
Your Reading and Viewing assignments this week focus particularly on the concepts of positive and negative reinforcement and punishment. These concepts are essential building blocks in the basic foundation of behavioral psychology. As you read and reflect on these ideas, please respond to the following prompt for this week’s discussion:
Think about your personal experiences and provide at least one real-life example for each of the following: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. Consult the text for examples (p. 68, p. 108 in Miltenberger, 2016) if you need support in coming up with scenarios for this response.
For each example, include a brief commentary on whether the reinforcement or punishment that you experienced was successful in increasing or decreasing the target behavior—and if not, why?
While considering the concepts of reinforcement and punishment, include at least one biblical perspective. What is a verse or story from the Bible that stands out to you as you think through these ideas? How might the ideas of reinforcement and punishment be present in Scripture?
READING:
Miltenberger, R.G. (2016). Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures (6th ed.).
Chapter 4: Reinforcement (assigned sections only)
pp. 65-81
Chapter 5: Extinction (assigned sections only)
pp. 91-97
Chapter 6: Punishment
Chapter 8: Respondent conditioning (assigned sections only)
pp. 146-149, pp. 157-160
Chapter 18: Ethics of punishment (assigned sections only)
pp. 384-388
