Quick thought: punishment...

•  My Mind
• Punishment for First Choice?
• Downfall of Punishment
• Reinforcement
• The Better Choice

My Mind
Let me give a quick background about my "mind".  I argue with myself all the time.  I end up having long debates in my head.  No, I'm not crazy.  I think I do this as my way to solve problems and to get that "light bulb" moment once there is nothing to argue anymore and both sides (of me) agree.  But honestly sometimes "they" don't.  Which is OK, it just shows that life is, complicated.

Punishment for First Choice?
I generated a great example why punishment shouldn't be the first thing to present when it comes to solving a behavior problem.  Imagine everyone driving on the high way at speeds past the speed limit.  Now watch as the police car enters the highway ramp and joins the drivers.  Now watch!  Yea, you already now, red lights start blinking on the back of everyone's vehicle indicating everyone is hitting their breaks to slow down.  I laugh at this all the time!  Because it's the most predictable human behavior on the road.   I'm so fascinated at watching human behavior's on the road being able to predict lane changes, speeds, etc  (something we all do but never really focus on that thought).  Now, why do people on the road see police officers as punishers?  Because,  they are the ones with authority to give tickets to people who break the law.  And no one loves getting tickets.   First you have to pay for it, it goes on your records and it can affect some other things like your car insurance.  Police officers are the stimulus, slowing down is your behavior, and the consequence is you not getting a ticket.  And this becomes a learned behavior.  Because you learned that: when you speed (behavior), you get a ticket (consequence).  And because of this, you are less likely to speed in the future (punishment).  Punishment is the introduction of a consequence that will more than likely decrease a certain behavior. 

Downfall of Punishment
But the problem with this is that, once the police officer exits the highway, you are back at speeding up along with the rest of the cars on the highway.   What happened is that there is a competing consequence (reinforcer).  A reinforcer is a consequence that makes you more than likely to increase your behavior.  In this example the behavior is the speeding.  For some is timing, how long it takes you to get from point A to B, you just don't like wasting time and have no patience or you just might be running late.  For others it's the thrill of driving fast, the feel of a high performance vehicle, the wind blowing, the freedom!  Or you are just keeping up with the other speeders cause you don't want to be tail gated or beeped at.  Whatever it is, it beats your fear of a cop giving you a ticket when the cop is not around.   And because of this, the behavior didn't disappear or reduced  for a longer period of time (no extinction of the targeted behavior).

Reinforcement
And then I was thinking, "OK...so what would make drivers drive at the speed limit?".  What do people like?  What would make them cooperate?  I know for me, money would.  Progressive Auto Insurance has a great example with their Snapshot program.  If you want to lower your car insurance premium, using the snapshot device records certain data that "indicates" safe driving and uses that data to give you an incentive like a discount on your policy.  This is an reinforcement.  You are more than likely to drive safe with this "Big Brother" like machine in your car so that you can get a better deal.  So what would happens if there was a program like this for people who drove the speed limit?  Like a device that tracked your speed?  And for staying in the speed limit for the week you were eligible for some type of monetary value.  [see: token system]  Something tangible that you can you as an exchange for things you want.  Would you do it?  Would you drive the speed limit?  Even if you were going to be late for work, etc.  Would that control your speeding?  Yes, if the reward (the consequence) was worth it for you.  Who wouldn't want cash for driving safe?  

The Better Choice
Reinforcers are a better choice when dealing with behaviors than punishments.  With reinforcers you can replace a bad behavior with a good one.  With punishment, you are just trying to oppress the bad behavior.  And becasue of that, it is more than likely to emerge to the surface occasionally.  In other words, if you want to get rid of a behavior, replacing it is a better choice.  Extinction alone, is very hard and not the best route to go for great results.