When Dr. Manente talked about the misconception of “Reinforcement good , Punishment Bad” it actually made me think in a way I never had before. You never think of how sometimes reinforcement can actually cause more harm than good.

Punishment is a natural consequence that we all encounter on a daily basis. I love how Dr. Manente opens up about the misconceptions that punishment is not abuse but any consequence that is implemented to decrease the future occurrence of that specific behavior being punished. I use punishment with daughter on her token board, if she throws a tantrum, she has a response cost and loses a token. Punishment is not a bad thing although we do need to carefully monitor it when implementing it and training others. Thank you for making this great content available.

This ambiguity between the nature of reinforcement and punishment is such an interesting topic and as Dr. Manente highlights, both work naturally in our day to day lives as well. There is this stigma surrounding punishment because of what it has been commonly associated with, but if you think about the natural occurrences of punishment such as turning the wrong shower knob or touching a hot stove, it's easier to understand how many of these situations have shaped our own behavior.

Great examples Chris ! I think any time a punishment procedure is put in place it must be monitored closely so it is being implemented appropriately.

This sparked some good questions for my class. Thanks, Erin Bertoli.

Yep, the word punishment itself has been paired with the word abuse so much it is culturally synonymous. Used properly, however, It can be liberating.

Punishment behaviors, I have tried utilizing punishment as the last resort but when it is appropriate to implement, it is carefully monitored. Please bear with me this is a long post. In my previous employment position, I used to work as an ABA therapist for a Multiple Disabilities classroom in an elementary school. Every day during math class, I had a student who would throw a tantrum (cry, scream and throw self to ground) and engage in property destruction behaviors (swipe things off desk, throw supplies at others etc). This behavior would occur right when independent math work started to when it was time to transition to lunch/ recess. The teacher and assistants have tried everything from modification of work (instead of 10 problems student does 5) to consoling the student and allowing for escape, in the end every day the student worked with the teacher every day- during independent work which was stressful for teacher since she needed to see other student progress. We collected ABC data and have found the function of the behavior was escape and attention ONLY from the classroom teacher (student loved when teacher would work with them). We developed a punishment treatment in which there was planned ignoring from the teacher, and loosing access to recess if student did not complete work (Recess was so important to this student). Treatment: So the student had a worksheet that had 5 problems that needed to be completed before lunch/ recess and to gain access from the teacher. In the first week the student had to complete one by themselves and 4 with the teacher. The student was not allowed to get access from the teacher until question was done and once done student was allowed to work with the teacher. The first couple of times were very hard and a lot of planned ignoring which the student DID NOT like. There was a burst in behavior and then after day 5 student was able to complete the one problem and gained access to everything. After mastering one it was bumped to 2 and so forth. In 3 months student was able to complete 10 math problems independently then was able to gain access to the teacher 3 minutes before lunch and recess.

my left ear went deaf after watching this

"This link shows the worst forms of capital punishment that are totally unacceptable" Do you mean _corporal_ punishment?

The idea of "punishment" is a trigger word for most of the current very weak, ignorant and bubble-wrapped generation and the one previous.

People way way way overthink on this shit its not that complicated it really isnt

This ambiguity between the nature of reinforcement and punishment is such an interesting topic and as Dr. Manente highlights, both work naturally in our day to day lives as well. There is this stigma surrounding punishment because of what it has been commonly associated with, but if you think about the natural occurrences of punishment such as turning the wrong shower knob or touching a hot stove, it's easier to understand how many of these situations have shaped our own behavior.