Punishment is a term used in the psychology of operant conditioning to refer to any change that follows a behavior that makes it less likely to repeat the behavior in the future. Positive and negative reinforcement are used to improve behavior, while punishment aims to reduce or eliminate unwanted behavior. Punishment is often confused with negative reinforcement. The difference is that reinforcement makes the behavior more likely and punishment makes the behavior less likely.

Type of punishments

Behavioral expert B.F. Skinner, the psychologist who first described operant conditioning, identified two types of stimuli that could be used as punishment.

Positive punishment: This type of punishment is also called 'corrective punishment'. Positive punishment refers to an unpleasant stimulus after the behavior has occurred. For example, if a student is speaking irregularly in the middle of a lesson, the teacher can reprimand the student for interrupting.

Negative punishment: This type of punishment is also called 'exclusionary punishment'. Negative punishment is the removal of the desired stimulus after the behavior has occurred. For example, in the previous example, when the student starts speaking in turn again, the teacher immediately informs the child that his behavior means that the break must be missed.

Efficiency

I can think of a few examples where punishment can be effective in some situations, but punishment doesn't always reduce unwanted behavior. An example is a prison. Many people commit crimes after being imprisoned for a crime and even after being released from prison. Why does punishment seem to work in some cases and not in others? Researchers have identified two factors that contribute to the effectiveness of punishment in a variety of situations.

First, punishments are more effective when they are applied quickly. Prison sentences are often served soon after a crime has been committed, which may explain one reason why sending people to prison does not always reduce criminal activity. Second, punishment is most effective when it is applied consistently. It can be difficult to punish every behavior that occurs. For example, people continue to exceed the speed limit after receiving a speeding ticket. Why? Because behavior is punished inconsistently.

A punishment that is consistently applied immediately after action will cause the action to decrease.

Drawbacks and Consequences

Punishment also has serious drawbacks. First, any behavioral change that results from punishment is often temporary. As Skinner explains in Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 'punitive behavior may re-emerge after the consequences of the punishment are removed.'

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage is that punishment does not provide information about more appropriate or desirable behavior. Subjects can learn not to do certain things, but they don't know what to do. Another thing to consider about punishment is that it can have unintended consequences. For example, a 2014 study in the United States found that nearly half of parents admitted to hitting a young child (under 9) in the past year. Researchers have found that this type of corporal punishment leads to antisocial behavior, aggression, and delinquency in children.

For this reason, Skinner and other psychologists suggest that any short-term benefits of using punishment as a tool to modify behavior should be weighed against the potential long-term consequences.