Let’s Chat…
I wanted to get on here and write some less formal and stuffy blogs with my own unprofessional language, haha.
I have talked about this before, but I wanted to go over reinforcement again.
What is reinforcement? It is common knowledge that reinforcement = praise for something that we want to see. I had spoken in “fanciness” before and labeled this a behavior-specific praise, hahaha. BUT, what I noticed this week is that reward for appropriate behavior is not focused on enough. We must reward the behaviors that we want to see to increase those behaviors!!! We automatically want to look at taking something away because “we don’t reward for things that people should just do” (insert caveman voice here). WELL…. It is 2022, and we now have science that backs us when we refuse to comply when someone says, “Do it because I said so….” (check out No One Wins in a Power Struggle blog for more information on that topic).
Now let’s chat about the biggest misconception of reinforcement. Most people believe that reinforcement is no different than a bribe…. Let’s bust that myth before we move on. A bribe is paying someone 200$ for a service before they provide it. They may follow through and give you the best of their service, but they do not have to because they already have the reward. Reinforcement is waiting for a service to be completed, approving it, and then paying for it (giving the 200$). Most people will not pay for a service until they can ensure that the work is up to par. Reinforcement says you do the work first and then get the reward. A bribe says… take this... I trust you to follow through with your promise. These two terms are entirely different, have different results, and do not share the same effectiveness in managing/changing behavior. Reinforcement is super important when trying to get someone to do something that they just refuse to do. For example, would you continue to provide a service without pay? Looking at ourselves and how we all function on a reinforcement schedule through our paychecks can give us a different perspective on reinforcement.
Let’s break it down to the basics…
Reinforcement happens after a behavior… that something that happened made us more likely to do that behavior again in the future. I have a great example of this from my nephew. He got an after-school job in high school. In his first week, I picked him up from work, and he said, “Aunt Tara, I don’t know how you do this… I hate work”. I told him that it sucks, but to wait for his first paycheck will make it a little more worth it. I picked him up when he got his first paycheck, and he was so happy!! He said, “I get it now.”
Number one, I love that I was able to provide that for him; meaning that when we can give advice/directives to our children and follow-through, it really helps to build trust (see blog Who Cares if They are Unhappy! I Don’t Want to Work for Them Anyway! for more on that topic). But more importantly, my nephew may have given up on that job because he genuinely did not like it. What he did like was the pay. Therefore, he became more likely to display the behaviors (show up and complete job duties) in the future to access that reinforcement (his paycheck).
We are more likely to display the expected behaviors if we like the reward (consequence) that comes after we display certain behaviors. You will see people punish the behaviors they do not want to see, which can be effective, BUT this CAN NOT be done without pairing it with reinforcement for behaviors that we want to see. Most of the time, reinforcement for the behaviors we want to see will even be more effective than punishing the behaviors we do not want to see, and punishment is unnecessary. Reinforcement of appropriate behaviors will automatically reduce the unwanted behaviors without all of the SIDE EFFECTS that are scientifically proven to occur from punishment.
***Disclaimer: if someone displays dangerous behaviors where punishment is necessary for safety, this is a different story. I am currently speaking on ABA principles in everyday life, based on all functioning levels.
So.. takeaway….. Reinforcement changes in the environment, a reward (behavior-specific praise, etc., see Why Won’t They Listen to Me” blog) that increases the future probability of that behavior. Therefore, we use reinforcement on the behaviors that we want to see displayed instead of focusing on those we do not want to see.
ABA professionals: If your behavior plan is not working… check your reinforcement schedule to ensure that the client has the motivation to display appropriate behaviors. This is the FIRST STEP (after medical consideration, but can be paired and increased while awaiting medical treatment to help reduce unwanted behaviors).
Parents: if you are having trouble with your child displaying unwanted behaviors, try to find a reward system that rewards them for the behaviors you want to see.
As always, let me know your thoughts :)
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