Punishment

Punishment involves the weakening of behavior through the application of an aversive stimulus or the removal of an appetitive stimulus. There are varying types of punishment. Positive punishment consists of presenting a certain event after a response, which then leads to a decrease in the future strength of that response. Basically, the behavior results in the receiving of something that the individual strongly dislikes so that they are far less likely to behave that way in the future. Some examples of positive punishment would be receiving a spanking for swearing or a teacher reprimanding a student in front of the class because they misbehaved. 

By contrast, there is also negative punishment. Negative punishment involves removing a certain event after a response, which then leads to a decrease in the strength of that response in future instances. Basically, an individual's behavior results in the removal of something that the individual enjoys so that they are less likely to behave that way moving forward. Examples of negative punishment would be losing your job for being an irresponsible employee or losing out on ice cream for dessert after dinner because you talked back to your parents. 

For me personally, I always felt that negative punishment was the most effective way to get me to behave when I was a kid. I can remember my mother taking away my game console for misbehaving and doing things that I was not supposed to and how that certainly motivated me to not want to do those things in the future. Knowing that I could lose something that I really enjoyed if I behaved poorly was always something that stuck in the back of my mind when I was young and kept me in line. 

One article that I read discussed various ways to effectively discipline a child and teach them to behave in a healthy and nurturing way. Strategies like putting a child in a time-out, listening to them voice their concerns, and setting limits, are all effective and healthy strategies for discipline and teaching a child. The information that I learned from this article is the knowledge that I hope to be able to employ if I have children of my own one day, along with all the things that I have learned from the book and lectures. 

Article reference: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/family-dynamics/communication-discipline/Pages/Disciplining-Your-Child.aspx

Book reference: Powell, Russell A.; Honey, P. Lynne; Symbaluk, Diane G.. Introduction to Learning and Behavior (p. 347). Cengage Learning.