As much as individuals may hate to admit it, the world largely runs on principles of behaviorism. We can trace much of what we do back to rewards or punishments to some degree. Denying this is almost akin to denying the existence of gravity. These principles were discovered, not invented. Individuals who oppose behaviorism argue it is a cold way to control someone. Behaviorism can be used without coldness, however. By understanding and utilizing these principles, we can use them in our favor rather than merely being controlled by them. In fact, one could even argue that giving emotional warmth to another person is a form of reinforcement.

Understanding the Basics of Reinforcement

The public knows the terms reinforcement and punishment, but these terms have a slightly different meaning to a psychologist. The first step to understanding these concepts is to separate good and bad or preferred and averse from reinforcement and punishment. A reinforcer is anything that increases or maintains a behavior. A punishment is anything that decreases behavior. Any time you design an intervention, you don’t know if you are reinforcing or punishing the behavior until you engage in the intervention. We do know some things are more likely to increase behavior, such as fun activities, food items, or praise.

Positive and negative has nothing to do with good or bad. Positive refers to something you apply, and negative refers to something you take away. So positive reinforcement is anything you apply that increases a behavior (e.g., receive paycheck for going to work which increases behavior of going to work) and negative reinforcement is anything you take away that increases a behavior (e.g., reposition fussy baby and crying stops, which increases behavior of repositioning the baby the next time it is fussy). The same is true for punishment. Positive punishment is anything you apply that decreases a behavior (e.g., cow is shocked when reaching over electric fence to get grass on the other side which decreases attempts to reach over the fence). Negative punishment is anything you take away that decreases a behavior (e.g., lose recess for cutting in lunch line, which decreases future attempts to cut in line).

Although I am not against talking about the application of punishment, this is a more controversial topic and not the purpose of this post. As such, the remainder of this post will focus on how to select and use reinforcers.

Recommendations for Selecting and Using Reinforcement

Pick the behavior you want to reinforce

Clearly define the behavior you want to increase, and make sure it is within the child’s ability. Expectations should be clear regarding what counts as having done the required behavior. For example, create a checklist for tasks involved in cleaning the bathroom, or take a picture of what a well-made bed looks like.

Use a reinforcement system for only a few behaviors at a time (e.g., homework, chores, getting up on time). This is because the system can easily become overly burdensome for everyone. As such, pick one or two behaviors you feel would offer the most positive improvement. After reaching a desired mastery level with one set of behaviors, you can move on to others as/if needed.

Reward behaviors that lead to good outcomes, not outcomes the child cannot control completely. Children can quickly become discouraged when they try hard but do not receive the promised reward due to things that are out of their control. For example, instead of giving a reward for an A on a spelling test, give the reward for writing each of the spelling words 5 times. The act of writing the word repeatedly is more likely to lead to a good grade anyway, and it is the part the child has control over.

Selecting the right reinforcer

Several ideas may help with selecting something to use as a reinforcer. It is okay simply to ask what the child would consider a good reward. I personally have found it helpful when doing this to already have a few ideas in mind. This way, the child generally has an idea of what kind of things are okay to ask for. Formalized reinforcers can involve tangible objects (e.g., food or toy), activities (e.g., screen time), or praise. Usually reinforcers are tangible objects or activities. Formal praise can also be a reinforcer (e.g., the A/B honor roll).

The child should not already have unlimited access to the reinforcer. If your child can already play on their phone all they want, doing homework for phone time will not work. Furthermore, do not use a reinforcer you will have to give at some point even if the child doesn’t complete the task (e.g., can’t eat dinner until the room is clean).

Giving out the reinforcer

The sooner a reinforcer is given after the desired behavior, the better. I recommend purchasing some tangible items in advance, so they are on hand when starting the program. For activities, I recommend ones that can be done soon after task completion.

When learning a new behavior, reward each instance of the behavior. Once the child gains adequate consistency, space out the rewards. This is especially true if the goal is to do the behavior without reinforcement (e.g., potty training). In reality, reinforcers give the child opportunities to experience natural reinforcement for doing the behavior (e.g., avoiding wet clothes).

When giving a larger reward for behavior over time, give the reward for number of behaviors rather than number of times in a row. Giving a reward for consecutive instances (e.g., be good all week) may cause the child to feel overwhelmed. The child may not have anything to gain after an early failure (e.g., “bad” on Monday) or may feel resentful for partial effort (e.g., good all week but had a “bad day” on Friday). Counting the instances of behaviors over time means each time the child does as desired, credit is gained toward the larger reward.

Use reinforcers the child will not tire of quickly. Give them at a rate where the child continues to want more. Give enough of the reinforcer so it is a reward, but not so much it loses its incentive (e.g., single cookie verses a box of cookies). Have a variety of options and a level of randomness to make the reinforcers last longer.

Set up the reinforcement system so it is easy to maintain. Make the system a daily habit. Put reminders on phones. Display the program prominently to remind the child and caregiver of the system.

What if the child doesn’t do what I want?

When using a formalized system, such as a token economy, do not take away points or credit earned toward a goal for bad behavior. Doing this can sabotage an otherwise good system. In most cases, the reinforcement system has consequences already built in (i.e., the child does not get the reward). If a misbehavior is not related to the reinforcement system, deal with it outside of the system.

Conclusion

Although reward systems have gone out of fashion in some parenting circles, they remain a very effective way to assist children in building positive habits. We all run off reinforcement systems in one way or another (e.g., working for a paycheck). Building a greater awareness of them and managing them in our favor is an invaluable skill.

If you want help setting up a reinforcement system for your child, please contact our office.

Post written by Dr. Gordon D. Lamb, Licensed Psychologist and Clinical Director

Please note posts are educational in nature and are not intended to replace psychological services when needed.