I don’t think there is anything in the science of behavior that is more well-researched and better understood than the power and importance of the principle of reinforcement. Yet, there may be no behavioral principle that is more misunderstood outside of the science world.
To truly understand Reinforcement you need to start out by being able to look at it in two important ways:
- Reinforcement is anything that happens after a behavior occurs and makes that behavior more likely to occur again under similar circumstances.
- Any behavior that is proving to be more likely to occur under certain circumstances has in some way been reinforced.
These two statements are not up for debate. They are facts of life that science has merely been able to uncover, dissect and better understand. Reinforcement is defined as anything that will increase the future use of behavior it follows and any behavior that increases has been reinforced by something. This we cannot change—and this we should not ignore!
Trying to avoid the use of reinforcement or considering the use of reinforcement a weaker or lessor form of gaining cooperation in learning is not really an option. You cannot increase behavior without the use of reinforcement. It’s a simple truth. You can either understand this truth and use it to your child, student, or client’s benefit or you can ignore the principle and ultimately use it haphazardly, incorrectly, or to inadvertently cause the wrong behaviors to increase.
When you fully understand reinforcement as the way it is defined as a truth of human behavior, you will begin to see that there is no successful plan that increases important behavior that doesn’t use reinforcement in one way, shape or form.
There are actually two main forms of reinforcement to be aware of — Positive Reinforcement and Negative Reinforcement. The difference between these two is also often misunderstood. I cannot count the number of times I’ve heard someone in a movie or TV show say they were using negative reinforcement when in reality the principle they were describing was punishment.
Positive reinforcement is a form of reinforcement, and as such, still does what all reinforcement does. It increases the behavior it follows. The thing that would make reinforcement labeled as positive would be that the increase in behavior occurred based on the contingent “addition” of something to the environment after the behavior occurred. In this case, positive means adding or “+.”
What people tend to confuse is the fact that Negative Reinforcement is also a form of reinforcement and as such still does what all reinforcement does. It increases the behavior it follows. The difference here is that the increase in behavior occurs based on the contingent “removal” of something from the environment after the behavior occurred. In this case, negative means subtracting or “-.”
So, why is any of this important? Why dissect and consider the differences in Positive Reinforcement vs. Negative Reinforcement? Well, the answer lies in what changes in addition to the increase in the behavior of interest.
In the science of behavior, we call the specific behavior we are trying to influence, the behavior of interest. When we talk about reinforcement, remember, we are only talking about increasing the use of the behavior of interest.
So, if the behavior of interest was, for example, brushing teeth after a meal, we would be focused on what environmental changes we could organize, that would reliably lead to more teeth brushing after a meal.
The problem with brushing one’s teeth, is that there is a lot of work effort involved to do it correctly. You need to stop or avoid whatever other activity you might prefer to be doing. You have to go to the bathroom, find the toothbrush, find the toothpaste, open it up, put the paste on the brush and then brush in a consistent correct pattern for long enough to hit all of the teeth. The toothpaste might not taste very good and it may even sting the gums a bit. The brushing could also cause bleeding and pain. All of which likely act as punishing consequences for the behavior of teeth brushing. This means that they occur as consequences that make teeth brushing, less likely in the future without intervention.
A behavior analyst looks at this natural occurring contingency and sees it as a math problem to solve or an imbalance to try to fix. Imagine it as a seesaw. A long bar with a fulcrum under the middle. On the right of the fulcrum is all the things that would make teeth brushing less likely to be chosen as a consistent behavior by the child. On the left side is all the things that would make teeth brushing more likely to occur. And if your child is not currently choosing to brush their teeth, you are sitting with a see saw that has much more in the way of reasons not to brush than it has reasons to brush.
So, if you were looking at this seesaw leaning heavily to the right and you were trying to figure out how to get it back leaning to the left, what would you do? Well, you could try to take off some of the weight that makes the right side so heavy. You could try to find a better tasting toothpaste? You could try not to ask for teeth brushing, when the child is engaged in a favorite activity. You could change the style of brush to make it easier and less painful. However, once you have done everything you can to make the punishing outcomes of teeth brushing as small or light as possible, if the seesaw still leans right, you have to start to add something that puts some weight on the other side. You have to have positives for brushing that overcome the negatives you cannot remove.
As a math problem, how do you make brushing greater in benefit than not brushing? Or, more specifically, how do we get brushing to be more rewarding than it is punishing.
I don’t think anyone using any major teaching or parenting style would say, that trying to take the punishing consequences away from a behavior is problematic. But, because of a lack of understanding about reinforcement, there are a lot of parenting programs or styles that take fault with the concept of adding value to the behavior which we want to see more.
They say things like, “we don’t like to use rewards”, or “we don’t like to bribe our kids,” or “I want the child to do it for the right reasons and not only to gain something.” If they are studied in their non-behavioral technique they might say, “I want the child to do it for intrinsic reasons not extrinsic or external reasons.” So, what are these so-called intrinsic reasons? My guess is that they are referring to the long-term natural benefits of brushing. Things such as, avoiding tooth decay, bad breath, and gum disease. So, of course, these intrinsic reasons, if you want to call them that (technically they are all forms of negative reinforcement), are perfectly within the realm of what a behavior analyst might choose to use. Let’s teach the child about gum disease and tooth decay. Show them pictures and try to get them to understand that this is a potential outcome for them if they continue not to brush. Someone who understands what makes reinforcement effective (Size, Contingency, Immediacy and Deprivation), might quickly realize however, that these long-term reinforcers are not likely to be large enough, contingent enough or immediate enough to actually affect that behavior. So, now what do they do? That is a very good question. Because there are lots of potential reinforcers in the environment, that if used correctly, could cause the child to choose the behavior more regularly. More regular use would lead to it becoming a habit and might also diminish the punishing effects of tooth brushing as it is now being paired with positive outcomes and the child is becoming used to the sensations involved.
The problem with saying “I don’t use rewards,” or “I don’t want to bribe my child,” is that it is a complete misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the principle of reinforcement. You see, the term “rewards” is not synonymous with reinforcement. The act of “bribing” is not the act of reinforcement. There are no right or wrong reasons we learn to do things. We either learn to do them for reasons that matter to us or we don’t.
Many people speed when they drive their cars. Is there a right reason for them to speed and a wrong reason? Speeding is a behavior choice that develops based on the contingencies (or the balance) of the reinforcement and/or punishment people have experienced by doing it in their lives. People will ultimately choose to speed based on how much reinforcement they have received for speeding (positive or negative reinforcement) vs. how much punishment they get from speeding (positive or negative). It is a see saw with a fulcrum. If the positive outcomes of speeding outweigh the negative outcomes, then the person will be more likely to speed in the future under similar circumstances. It just means there was more reinforcement being contacted than punishment and the balance makes speeding seem like a worthwhile choice when late.
So, if we bring this back to teeth brushing. A well intentioned parent might say “I don’t want to bribe my student”, or “I shouldn’t have to reward my child for doing something they are supposed to do.” And because, they mistakenly equate these things with reinforcement they may actually say “I don’t want to use reinforcement.” However, if we go back to the original definition of reinforcement, it states that:
- Reinforcement is anything that happens after a behavior occurs and make that behavior more likely to occur again under similar circumstances.
- Any behavior that is proving to be more likely to occur under certain circumstances has in some way been reinforced in the past.
If you focus on part 2, you will see that it is impossible to work without the use of reinforcement. If a behavior has increased, it has been reinforced, whether you understand or want to admit to it, or not. So, what these people are actually against is not reinforcement at all but, certain forms of reinforcement and reinforcement combined with other principles that they think are inferior to others.
So, let’s dissect that a little. If you are being successful with any child in increasing any skill, you are using reinforcement. You may not be aware of what you are doing or how you are reinforcing the behavior but, you still are. There is no way to say you are not using reinforcement, as that is what increases our future behavior. Now, there may be things you want to use as reinforcement and things you would rather not. This is fine as a personal choice and we as behavior analysts and families working together make those choices all the time. However, to say you don’t use reinforcement is not a legitimate statement. Remember, if behavior increases, it is being reinforced by something.
Now that we have that out of the way, we can start to talk about what it is that is reinforcing behavior. I have already split all reinforcement up into two basic forms. The addition of something deemed beneficial (positive) and the subtraction of something detrimental (negative) that increases behavior.
If I were to watch any teacher or parent anywhere in the world doing anything with a child and that child is increasing their use of the behavior of interest (learning skill), I can identify what forms of reinforcement are likely responsible.
When people say they don’t like to use reinforcement, what they usually mean is one of two things. They don’t like to use positive reinforcement or they don’t like to use “extrinsic” reinforcement.
The idea of avoiding positive reinforcement is likely meant to avoid bribing or rewarding a child to behave in a way that they feel is inappropriate for learning. Example: “I’m not going to bribe my child with $10 to wash my car because, they should do it solely because I asked them and not for a reward.” Again, in describing their objections to positive reinforcement, I am using the two terms most often used to try to discredit reinforcement – Bribes and Rewards.
Bribes are not reinforcement, because the bribing actually takes place before the behavior occurs. “If you wash my car I will give you $10.” A promise to potential reinforcement is not reinforcement. It is a completely different behavioral principle and has nothing to do with the concept of reinforcement. Bribes or consistent promising of potential reinforcement is normally not considered best practice in any behavioral program and therefore thinking that reinforcement is bad because it is synonymous with bribing is a complete factual inaccuracy.
Most bribes would be conducted in a “if/then” statement. “If you wash my car, then I will give you $10.” Again, this is not reinforcement. There are also a lot of really good reasons why we teach our parents to avoid “if/then” statements in their teaching. My goal is never to get a child to assess the value of an offer and accept or decline that offer based upon what they would get from it. This doesn’t help me long-term and is not a part of most modern behavioral approaches. In fact, every behavior analyst I’ve ever worked with has always recommended avoiding “if/then” statements as much as possible.
The goal of programming is to set up a situation where a child begins to see, through experience, that cooperation is its own reward. Positive engagement in the family activities and needs leads to a better more fulfilling and socially beneficial life. I don’t ever want my child to wash my car only because I offered $10. But, if I am not aware of the principle of behavior and I am not engaging in a planned environment that consistently make the child’s life better when he engages positively than when he doesn’t, I am not likely to see an increase in cooperation and engagement.
So, the use of $10 for washing the car might actually be beneficial to the overall goal of showing a child that engagement and cooperation with family needs is beneficial but, we should never be setting it up so the child is only working for $10 or making a value choice, based on what they can gain from the individual behavior in the moment.
Here is where it can get quite complicated. So, in teaching behavior analysts, parents and other professionals “The 7 Steps to Earning Instructional Control,” I usually word it this way:
We never want the child to be making good choices for a specific thing they can gain but, we want them to generally see through experience that good choices consistently leads to better overall outcomes and a better life. In other words, I’m not going to teach a child that washing the car is worth $10 but, I might use $10 (along with many other reinforcers in many other situations) to show the child that engaging in positive ways is generally beneficial and worthwhile. This will occur, because the result of positive interactions with others consistently leads to a happier and more fulfilling existence through reinforcement.
Now, when someone tries to avoid using positive reinforcement, what they do is refuse to allow the child’s good choice making lead to positive outcomes. By not being the giver of good things on a regular basis, the parent or teacher loses the opportunity to be seen as a positive in the child’s life. When someone who doesn’t truly understand reinforcement chooses to try to avoid all reinforcement in a desire to get children to “do things because they are told or they are supposed to,” what they generally end up doing is gaining their cooperation through an overwhelming use of negative reinforcement.
When using negative reinforcement in teaching, the teacher has to set up an aversive stimulus (something the child does not want to deal with) and then try to get the child to respond appropriately as a way to end or avoid that aversive stimulus. In most cases, the quickest and easiest aversive to use is the teacher or parent’s nagging. If your child comes home from school and puts their bookbag away, because they want to avoid you nagging them or embarrassing them or punishing them, you haven’t avoided using reinforcement. You have just been using negative reinforcement. If the way you get a child to put his name on his paper is to call him out in class, make a joke at his expense or stand over him and keep tapping at the paper and not let him go to recess until he has done it, you are not avoiding using reinforcement, you are just using negative reinforcement.
Negative reinforcement, such as described above, will ultimately get you what you want but, it will also teach the child that behavior is something they do to avoid or escape you and your demands. Conversely, if a child puts their bags away or writes their name on their paper out of a desire to spend more time and have more fun with you or gain something of value from you, you are still getting the positive outcomes. But, in this case, the child is seeing you as someone they want to be with and will begin doing this important behavior as a way to gain more social interaction and benefits from you.
For these reasons, most teachers or parents who try to avoid using reinforcement generally either fail at getting the cooperation and teaching the skills they desire, or they succeed but damage their relationship. The damage is caused by choosing to be a dictator rather than social partner and lead.
There are other parents or professionals that don’t try to eschew all reinforcement, but instead suggest that they avoid the use of extrinsic reinforcers and want the child to intrinsically want to do the behaviors of interest.
According to the website verywellmind.com: “Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, the motivation to engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is naturally satisfying. This contrasts with extrinsic motivationque consiste en adoptar un comportamiento para obtener recompensas externas o evitar castigo."
Lo que esta definición intenta transmitir es que si un comportamiento es natural o automotivador, el niño lo llevará a cabo porque se siente bien o porque hay un beneficio interno natural. Si la motivación es externa, el niño no la realizará de forma natural, sino que necesitará motivadores externos para participar.
Así que, esto es encantador. ¿Por qué no enseñamos sólo con motivación intrínseca? Bueno, si algo que quisiéramos enseñar ya estuviera intrínsecamente motivado, lo más probable es que el niño ya lo estuviera haciendo. Por lo menos, sólo tendríamos que presentárselo una vez y la motivación intrínseca se encargaría de que siguiera haciéndolo. ¿A cuántos de ustedes les motiva intrínsecamente aprender las tablas de multiplicar? ¿A cuántos de ustedes les motiva intrínsecamente correr largas distancias? ¿A cuántos de ustedes les motiva intrínsecamente limpiar la casa?
Es cierto que algunos de nosotros podríamos encontrar cualquiera de esas cosas intrínsecamente motivadora, pero dudo que muchos de ustedes fueran capaces de decir "sí" a las tres. (E incluso si lo hicieran, estoy seguro de que podría encontrar muy fácilmente otra actividad diaria esperada para la que estarían de acuerdo en que la respuesta es "no").
Entonces, si no tienes un deseo interno de aprender matemáticas o no tienes un deseo interno de correr o limpiar tu casa, ¿cómo puedo yo, como tu profesor, padre o guía, conseguir que hagas esas cosas utilizando sólo la motivación intrínseca? Esa es una muy buena pregunta para la que todavía estoy esperando una respuesta.
De forma parecida a cuando se enseña a un niño sobre la caries y las enfermedades de las encías, supongo que estos profesores o padres creen que conseguir que un niño limpie su habitación por motivación intrínseca implica algún tipo de explicación de todos los beneficios futuros de tener una habitación limpia. "La habitación estará ordenada y podrás encontrar tus cosas más fácilmente". "No pisarás cosas accidentalmente". "No te insistiré para que la limpies todo el tiempo". "Tendrás más espacio para exponer tus creaciones de Lego". Y la "verdadera" razón por la que deberías hacerlo: "Una vez que hayas limpiado, sentirás una sensación de logro y orgullo". Lo que la mayoría de la gente no entiende es que todas estas "razones" dadas antes de que se produzca la conducta no son más que formas de promesas de refuerzo. No son sustancialmente diferentes de un soborno o de una afirmación "si/entonces". Si limpias tu habitación, entonces no tendrás que pisar cosas accidentalmente, etc. La verdad es que no pisar las cosas no es más que una forma de refuerzo negativo, al igual que dejar de tener a mamá insistiéndole para que limpie su habitación. Además, tener un lugar donde exponer los Legos o sentirse orgulloso son dos formas de refuerzo positivo.
Así, en un intento de evitar el uso de refuerzos para ayudar a un niño que no está intrínsecamente motivado para limpiar su propia habitación, estos profesores y padres se ven obligados a utilizar exactamente los sobornos que dicen querer evitar. Y al hacerlo, con una lista tan limitada de reforzadores naturales entre los que elegir, es mucho menos probable que tengan éxito en su objetivo final de conseguir que el niño quiera de forma natural tener una habitación limpia.
Ahora, utilicemos un enfoque conductual de la crianza que podría recomendarse para este objetivo de conseguir que un niño quiera intrínsecamente limpiar su habitación. En "The 7 Steps to Successful Parenting" se recomienda utilizar grandes dosis de refuerzo positivo y evitar en la medida de lo posible el refuerzo negativo y las afirmaciones "si/entonces". También trabajamos para pasar de los refuerzos tangibles a los refuerzos sociales y a los refuerzos intrínsecos.
En primer lugar, intentamos reducir la carga de trabajo de nuestras instrucciones en la medida de lo posible para que sean algo que probablemente podamos conseguir del niño con una motivación mínima. Así, en lugar de empezar con la instrucción de "limpia tu habitación" (que podría implicar una hora de mover y organizar, etc.), podríamos optar por empezar con la instrucción mucho más fácil de "pon tus muñecas en esta caja."
Entonces, en lugar de sobornar al niño con una frase del tipo "si/entonces", esperamos a que demuestre algún tipo de motivación por un objeto o actividad que nosotros controlamos. Por ejemplo: el niño entra y dice "Mamá, ¿podemos jugar a un juego?". Mamá se da cuenta de que es un motivador que podría utilizarse como refuerzo para el objetivo de limpiar la habitación, así que dice: "Claro cariño, lo prepararé pero, necesito que vayas a tu habitación y pongas tus muñecas en su caja." En este caso no estamos utilizando un enunciado "si/entonces" en el que identificamos nuestro deseo y ofrecemos algo a cambio. En su lugar, utilizamos un "primero/después" en el que el niño identifica un deseo y nosotros dictamos lo que hay que hacer para conseguirlo.
Si consideramos la ecuación del balancín, si el deseo de jugar a un juego con mamá es más valioso o tiene más peso que el deseo de evitar meter sus muñecas en una caja, es muy probable que lo haga y que lo haga con gusto. Una vez que lo haga, mamá jugará con él al juego como refuerzo positivo.
Entonces, ¿qué ha pasado aquí hasta ahora? Mamá no sobornó al niño con una afirmación "si/entonces". El niño acudió a mamá en busca de ayuda para satisfacer un deseo y mamá le dijo: "Claro, haré eso contigo en cuanto hagas... (una conducta modificada de interés)".
A continuación, el niño completaba felizmente la conducta modificada que le interesaba y mamá reforzaba positivamente esta conducta jugando al juego con el niño, lo que hacía más probable que el niño cooperara con las instrucciones de mamá en el futuro. También es probable que el niño empiece a ver las instrucciones de mamá como caminos fáciles hacia la diversión. Una ventaja adicional es que ahora la madre puede participar en una interacción positiva contenta de haber visto progresos y, al hacerlo, contribuirá a construir una relación afectiva más positiva.
El niño aprende que las relaciones se desarrollan y nutren a través de un dar y recibir positivo. También aprende que cooperar con las peticiones de mamá no es demasiado difícil y que, por lo general, conduce a cosas buenas. Además, esas cosas buenas implican interacciones positivas con la madre y el niño.
Los padres pueden seguir haciendo esto con diferentes tareas de limpieza de la habitación como próximas instrucciones que dar. Podrían decir: "Claro, puedes tomarte unas uvas, pero primero ve a hacer la cama". Podrían intentar: "Sí, puedes ver un programa pero, necesito que primero pongas tu ropa en el cesto".
Siempre que la madre entienda la percepción del niño sobre el nivel de dificultad de lo que le está pidiendo que haga, así como el nivel de importancia de lo que le está pidiendo, se asegurará de que el balancín esté preparado a su favor. Cuando el balancín esté colocado correctamente, el niño empezará a cooperar sistemáticamente, no por un objeto específico como $10, sino por saber que "dar y recibir" con mamá siempre VALE LA PENA.
Esto empieza a crear un patrón de comportamiento de ver la cooperación con mamá como algo positivo. Ya no será un obstáculo para las cosas buenas, sino el camino hacia ellas. Además, mamá pasa a ser vista como una "dadora de cosas buenas" en el entorno y no como una regañona o una capataz.
En este sentido, es importante recomendar a los padres que emparejen la administración de refuerzos con la de elogios y otros refuerzos sociales. El principio conductual del emparejamiento muestra que, con el tiempo, dos elementos que se experimentan juntos empiezan a tener propiedades de valor compartido. En otras palabras, si un niño no limpia su habitación a cambio de un elogio, pero trabaja para tener acceso a un refuerzo tangible, se puede emparejar sistemáticamente el elogio con los elementos tangibles para que el elogio aumente su valor percibido. Esto ocurrirá, con el tiempo, debido al principio de emparejamiento.
A medida que el niño empieza a disfrutar y a gustarle cada vez más el elogio, éste puede empezar a ser lo bastante fuerte como para actuar como su propio refuerzo en tareas más pequeñas y fáciles, como meter los muñecos en una caja. Entonces, como padre, puedes empezar a utilizar el refuerzo tangible (emparejado con el elogio) para pedir instrucciones un poco más exigentes como: "Claro, en cuanto metas los muñecos en la caja y hagas la cama".
Uno de los beneficios secundarios de que el niño limpie ahora su habitación de buena gana es que los sentimientos de beneficio de tener una habitación limpia (por los que usted quería que el niño trabajara intrínsecamente) son cada vez más evidentes para el niño, a medida que sigue experimentando el beneficio de la habitación limpia. Además, esta motivación interna sólo aumentará si la limpieza de la habitación va acompañada de elogios sociales positivos y refuerzos tangibles.
Siguiendo este camino, se puede llegar a un punto en el que el niño sea capaz de limpiar toda su habitación cuando se le pida una combinación de elogios, motivación intrínseca y tangibles, todo ello mientras ve a los padres como personas que tienen más posibilidades de mejorar su vida.
Ahora bien, este es sólo un ejemplo de la cantidad de maneras en que "Los 7 Pasos para Ganarse el Control Instructivo" funciona para fomentar la cooperación y el deseo de mantener el comportamiento enseñado, a la vez que construye una mejor relación entre el niño y sus padres. Hay miles más que podría darle si tuviéramos tiempo. Le daré muchos de estos, así como le ayudaré a generalizar el uso de estos principios en mis cursos y entrenamiento pero, el punto principal, que quiero compartir hoy es este:
Al igual que las personas respiran oxígeno del aire que les rodea durante todo el día y lo necesitan para sobrevivir, las personas responden y aprenden del refuerzo que les rodea durante todo el día y lo necesitan para guiar su comportamiento. Desarrollar un plan de comportamiento que garantice que hay suficiente refuerzo en los momentos adecuados del día es como asegurarse de que alguien que tiene dificultades para respirar dispone de suficiente oxígeno para respirar más cómodamente.
Asegurarse a propósito de que se dispone de suficiente refuerzo para ayudar a un niño a tomar las decisiones que se le quiere enseñar es como conectar a alguien a un tanque de oxígeno. Utilizar el refuerzo como principio conductual para tener éxito en la enseñanza no es diferente de utilizar un tanque de oxígeno para asegurarse de que alguien que lo necesita está recibiendo un suministro suficientemente limpio de algo que debe tener para tener éxito. Cualquiera que le diga lo contrario desconoce las muchas maneras en que se utiliza el refuerzo en los programas ABA modernos y de calidad, y está malinterpretando sus propios éxitos al intentar atribuir el crecimiento a algo distinto del refuerzo. Recuerde, el comportamiento no puede crecer sin refuerzo, así que si están teniendo éxito, están reforzando. Es probable que no sepan cómo ayudarle a adaptarse, cuando la intervención que han elegido no es lo suficientemente reforzante como para producir resultados positivos. Para cualquiera que esté luchando por conseguir el tipo de relación positiva, divertida, cariñosa y de dar y recibir con un niño, aprender a entender y utilizar de forma competente el refuerzo es imprescindible. Este principio se enseña en detalle (así como otros principios conductuales importantes), cuando se aprende a trabajar con "Los 7 pasos para una crianza exitosa."
