Positive Reinforcement Essay

Cameron, J., Banko, K. M., & Pierce, W. D. (2001). Pervasive Negative Effects of Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation: The Myth Continues. The Behavior Analysist , 1-44.

While watching “The Puzzle of Motivation” by Dan Pink, I was very intrigued. Throughout the entire talk, there were several interesting points that were made. It really interested me when Pink talked about the group that was rewarded. Pink stated that if the contestants were in the top 25% of the fastest times, they would be rewarded five dollars. With this incentive, most would hope to do well, if not better than the person that would not be rewarded. Pink then goes on to point out the results. How much faster did the group that was offered a reward actually do? On average, it took them three and a half minutes longer. This really stood out to me because when offered a reward for a task, normally a person would be more motivated and thus do better. What amazed me even more was that this isn’t just a one time thing. This is has been replicated over and over for nearly 40 years. As Pink says around 04:33, “These contingent motivators -- if you do this, then you get that -- work in some circumstances. But for a lot of tasks, they actually either don 't work or, often, they do harm.” These rewards that are being offered are being used to attempt to sharpen thinking and accelerate creativity, but instead it’s proving to do the opposite. It’s proving to dull thinking and block creativity.

Reinforcement is used by parents, caregivers, and adults to show children the desired behavior. Positive Reinforcement avoids using punishment, yelling, degradation (Boyd & Bee, 2009). Reinforcement has been around for years and has been used around the world by generations of parents. It is a familiar term in modern society. There are many examples of research that support the positive effect reinforcement has on children.

Through thorough research, I have found that reinforcement in actuality has been known to better adjust an individual 's behavior in a positive light when it comes to treating disorders. Most commonly reinforcement has helped address effectively social and behavioral issues.

The types of positive reinforcement I may provide will likely depend on what circumstances present themselves. They will also differ depending on which role I am in. Positive reinforcement I provide to my children may vary significantly in comparison to the positive reinforcement I provided to students while I was the In-school Intervention Specialist at the Holbrook Junior High or what I may provide as a juvenile probation officer.

Kohn problem with rewards is as follows: they reduce intrinsic motivation for short-term “solutions” that lead to people becoming dependant on extrinsic motivators. He details the impact that the rewards have on misbehaved kids and working adults: they “. . . do not generally alter the attitudes and emotional commitments that underlie . . . behaviors” (pg. 41). There is no lasting effect on the behavior other than overlooking a problem for a small

If I recall from my undergraduate days, positive reinforcement occurs dependent on a behavior occurring when reward is presented that’s dependent on that behavior. A few years back, a student and parents were sitting in my office and the mom says, “Mi hijo, you did not know English five years ago, and now you are helping your brothers with their homework. In a few more classes, you will learn to do this and be able to help your brothers too. They learn so good from you.” I am always fascinated by moms and dads that can use positive reinforcement as a powerful tool to achieve a variety of agenda in regards to keeping their children motivated academically. For many of my immigrant parents, the term “positive reinforcement”

The section in this chapter that I found fascinating is when the authors discusses intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Before this section, I only heard of these words in my behavior modification psychology class third semester. In this section however, I especially enjoyed the example about the children playing math games. I was not surprised to see that the children spent more time playing the games when a reward was at stake. I feel, people in this day and age work or participate in activities majorly for the prize at the end (whether that be a paycheck, trophy, recognition, etc.). Of course there are many exceptions to this statement, and many people participate in certain things for the self-validation or pure interest.

Tashawna Duncan, Kristen Kemple, and Tina Smith all agree that implementing reinforcements in early childhood is critical for the push for all inclusive classrooms. No two children are alike. Therefore, it’s up to the teacher to determine effective ways to get all of the students to perform and master the desired behavior in the class. Some kids are motivated to perform simply because they like to please adults. Yet, what about the children who need more positive reinforcement? That’s when the teacher can implement social, tangible, activity reinforcers. “A particular behavior is said to be positively reinforced when the behavior is followed by the presentation of a reward that results in increased frequency of the particular behavior” (Abbendento

Complementing the employee on his work in the kitchen, then having the worker shows others what was done can be a positive reinforcement identifying workers through awards can make a difference when it comes to motivating employees to be more productive and creative (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013).

But giving them a motivation tool may not be so bad. Ivan Pavlov was a physiologist known for classical conditioning. He is mainly known for this study being done on dogs, and what motivates them. Before the conditioning, Pavlov would ring a bell. This would make the dog a little confused, as they did not know why he was doing this. During conditioning, Pavlov would ring the bell and show the food. This got the dog to drool and become in need of the food presented. After conditioning, Pavlov would ring the bell and now, since the last time the dog was presented with food, they would expect that every time the bell would ring. The ringing of the bell would give the dog

Reinforcement, in the way of the desired activity or object must be delivered on every occasion he engages in the appropriate behavior; meaning when he asks for a break, it is delivered initially. However, it must not be delivered when the undesired behavior is displayed; which requires a clearly defined operational definition of both behaviors and consistency across providers. As the learner becomes more proficient at the utilization of the alternate method and the unwanted behavior is decreasing, a fading of prompting occurs to decrease the possibility of prompt dependence (Cooper et al., 2007). Thinning of reinforcement for appropriate responding is done gradually and highly dependent on the individual, as it can produce unwanted results;

Question 2. In my viewpoint, the receipt of reward for doing something you like would be more effective with verbal praise and encouragement. However, motivational studies show that extrinsic motivation of rewards may cause interference in intrinsic motivation in tendency causing an overjustification effect, for example the study by Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett, Undermining children's intrinsic interest with extrinsic rewards: A test of the "overjustification" hypothesis (1973).

From a very early age, children begin to learn about the association between behaviors and consequences. They realize that there is always going to be a consequence whether it’d be positive or negative, that would follow the behavior. Sometimes children behave very well and most of the time, children tend to give parents and others around them a hard time. When it comes to behavior modification, some basic steps include identifying the behavior, setting expectations, monitoring progress, and reinforcing correct behaviors. Positive reinforcement has a lot of effect on children when it comes to modifying a targeted behavior. A reinforcer,

way to break children from their bad habits and enhance their good behaviors. Nichols (2014), mentions in the intervention section that when a parent addresses their childrens positive behavior with praise or love, it can be almost as effective as money or prizes, these behaviors can enhance the child’s good behavior. (Nichols, 2014).