How is this used?We will discover all this, in addition to discovering the wide variety of reinforcements that we can apply, not only in therapy, but also in our daily life.
What makes certain behaviors repeat?Positive reinforcement has to do with all this; a procedure used in particular in education and behavioral therapy that seeks to improve desired behaviors.
- What else do we know about positive reinforcement?What kind of reinforcements are there.
- How do they differ from punishment?If you want to know the answer to these and other questions.
- As well as discover possible reinforcements to apply in the day to day.
- Read on!.
Positive reinforcement is a widely used resource in behavioral therapy and education. This type of reinforcement includes all elements that increase the likelihood of a response appearing; that is, all these things that would help us consolidate behavior and make it appear more frequently (usually appropriate and positive behaviors, such as behaving well at the table).
A key figure in this area is BF Skinner, an American psychologist famous for his theory of behavior; suggested that positive reinforcement is what strengthens some patterns of behavior. According to him, positive reinforcement is all that helps us repeat a desired behavior.
Skinner has distinguished itself by systematically describing the characteristics of this type of learning, as well as applying it in several areas (mainly in education).
Positive reinforcement is also a technique that is part of operational conditioning, a learning system based on the application of reinforcements and punishments to increase or decrease the likelihood of the appearance of certain behaviors, through this type of procedure the person creates an association between their behavior and its consequences.
What can serve as positive reinforcement? Practically everything. Can it be praise (verbal reinforcement), objects, gestures, gifts, rewards, words, food?
Depending on the nature and characteristics of positive reinforcement, it belongs to one group or another, i. e. there are several types of positive reinforcement. Throughout the article, we’ll know what these types are.
There are a number of premises that will make positive reinforcement more effective, and have to do with how we use this procedure and how we choose the type of reinforcement:
On the other hand, when we use positive reinforcement, we must also take into account the following elements to make it effective: we must specify precisely the behavior that we intend to increase. In addition, we will monitor unforeseen events (or other reinforcements) that may be in competition with ours.
Finally, we will prevent the person from “satisfied” with the reinforcement (i. e. preventing him from getting bored with it), and for this it is necessary to control the situation so that the duration of the reinforcement is not excessive, estimating his ideal. Time.
Education is what survives when you forget what you’ve learned. -Burrhus Frederic Skinner-
To better understand what positive reinforcement is, we will also define what reinforcement and punishment are, antagonistic procedures.
Strengthening, as we have said, is any stimulus that increases the likelihood of behavior occurring; this can be positive (when an article’s appearance increases behavior) or negative (when removing an article also increases behavior).
An example of positive reinforcement would be to congratulate a child every time he has breakfast, on the other hand, a negative reinforcement would be to take away the tasks he does not like every time he finishes his homework. Both behaviors (congratulating and removing tasks), if repeated in time after the behaviors we want to promote, would increase the likelihood of the desired behaviors (in this case, the child will have all the breakfast and finish all the tasks).
Meanwhile, punishment is the opposite of reinforcement; that would be anything that reduced the likelihood of these behaviors that we want to eliminate. If the punishment is positive, we are talking about the appearance of certain elements (e. g. , placing a child in front of the wall, scolding or talking, etc. ) On the other hand, in case of negative punishment, it takes away what the child wants (for example, taking time without television, prohibiting him from going out on weekends, etc. ).
So, the essential difference between, positive or negative? Of the two procedures is the appearance (positive) or removal/disappearance (negative) of an article; on the other hand, what characterizes the strengthening procedure is that it seeks to improve the desired behaviors; instead, the punishment aims to eliminate undesirable behavior.
Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. -Nelson Mandela-
There are sixteen types of positive reinforcement, grouped according to six criteria, according to the Vallejo Manual of Behavioral Therapy (2012) Do you want to meet them?
Positive scrap, depending on its origin (the value of scrap, can be classified as:
According to this criterion, positive reinforcement can be of two types:
Depending on who administers positive reinforcement, it can be of two types:
Depending on who receives the reinforcement, the following differ
Depending on its nature, positive reinforcement may be in the following ways:
Finally, depending on the schedule, there are the following types of reinforcements:
It is clear that the use of this technique offers very positive results in education, in addition, it is part of broader programs and behavioral treatments, such as ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy, designed by clinical psychologist Ole Ivar Lovaas and especially suitable for autistic children.
As we have said, positive reinforcement is also part of broader behavioral techniques or programs, such as differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors, differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors, etc. In short, positive reinforcement is used as another tool to strengthen and improve the behaviors you want to maintain (i. e. appropriate or appropriate).
Furthermore, positive reinforcement is very suitable not only for maintaining desired behaviors, but also for creating (establishing) behaviors that do not yet exist.
As positive aspects of this resource, we find the fact of making the child happy with different objects and actions, walking with him in a respectful education and motivating him with various reinforcements that also guide his development, since reinforcement can instead be a tool educational. that provides learning.