Running head: REINFORCEMENT AND PUNISHMENT
Parent’s Perspective in Giving Reinforcement and Punishment
Josiah Lee Kah Ping
Singapore Human Resources Institute Academy
Diploma in Organisational Psychology – Principles of Psychology
Mr Goh Kay Hee (MAAP)
Abstract
Operant conditioning was coined by BF Skinner, meaning an organism was taught to repeat acts that lead to favourable results and to avoid acts that lead to unfavourable ones. This could be further breakdown into 3 types of operant which are neutral, reinforcer and punisher.
Using qualitative research method, the data collected was from a recorded interview with a participant who is a parent himself. From the interview themes were arrived and analysis.
There results from the investigation suggested that non-corporal punishment is preferred and between punishment and reinforcement, the latter is more effective when training a child.
Parent’s Perspective in Giving Reinforcement and Punishment
Learning through conditioning comes from the psychological paradigm of Behaviourism. Behaviourism assumes that learning occurs through our interaction with the environment, which in turn shapes our behaviour. There are several aspects of behavioural learning theory and two of the best known are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. However, for the purpose of this research paper we would be focusing on operant conditioning.
B.F Skinner (1904 – 1990) conducted a series of experiment with animals. For conducting the experiments with rats, he designed a special apparatus known as Skinner’s Box. It was a darken sound proof box consisting of a grid floor, a system of light or sound produced at the time of delivering a pallet of food in the food cup, a lever and a food cup. It is arranged so that when a rat presses the lever the feeder mechanism is activated, a light or a special sound is produced and a small pallet of food or small drops of water is released into the food cup. Based...