Positive Punishment

I got in a discussion yesterday with someone about positive punishment. As a result, I thought it warranted an entry. The terminology can be counter-intuitive, so I'll try to clarify.

So, to start with the basics, reinforcement is anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior and punishment is anything that decreases the likelihood of a behavior. For example, upon seeing a treat, a dog may sit and start to salivate. Sitting is the behavior, salivating is an unconditioned response (which we won't get into here). The main point here is that punishment is not always bad and reinforcement is not always good.

Now, the confusing part. In the context of behavior, positive does not mean good, and negative does not mean bad. The way I originally remembered the difference was positive is often represented as a plus sign (+), as in positive reinforcement, represented as +R or R+. The plus sign mean to add, so something is added. The inverse is also true for negative when something is subtracted or taken away (-R or R-).

So, in terms of positive punishment, something is added to decrease a certain behavior. This includes things like hitting, shocks, leash corrections, and many things that are usually referred to as aversives. Something has been added to change the behavior. I won't go into detail here about the problems and fallout of using positive punishment. I've discussed that in other entries and I'm sure it will come up again. Suffice it to say it has been scientifically proven there are much more effective ways to change behavior using negative punishment (taking away the shoe your dog is not supposed to chew on) and positive reinforcement (giving him an appropriate chew toy).

This is a VERY broad overview and barely touches on the subject in the simplest terms, but I hope it's a good starting point and clears up the topic a little. For more information, view some of the other entries, or look at some of Patricia McConnell's or Karen Pryor's books for a start.