Re: apparition

[Jean-Marc Perreault]

This year, I've used a mathematical analogy to teach Positve vs negative reinforcers and punishers. Students, as are most people, are used to associate positive and negative with a "good" or "bad" meaning. Thus, when they come accros the term "negative reinforcer ", they tend to focus on the "negative" part of the term, and seem to associate it to "punishement", which we tend to view as a "negative (read "bad")" thing... So I tell my students to read it mathematically. When it is positive, they should see a "+" sign, meaning they must add something to the picture. When it is negative, they should read a minus sign "-", which means they must remove something from the picture. Now, whether what you add or remove from the situation is a "nice" stimulus, or an "aversive" one, will depend on whether you are dealing with a reinforcer, or a punishment, and what your objective is... It seems to have gone through quite well. Ahh... Mathematics! Always so straight forward! Cheers! JM Steven Specht wrote: Reinforcers (whether negative or positive) will increase the probability of a behavior happening again in the future... that's why they are called "reinforcers". Negative reinforcement describes the alleviation of an aversive stimulus when a behavior is emitted (therefore the animal will likely do the behavior again in the future). Positive reinforcement describes the addition of an appetitive stimulus when a behavior is emitted (therefore the animal will likely do the behavior again in the future). Negative reinforcers or reinforcement IS NOT AVERSIVE and IS NOT the same as PUNISHMENT. Michael Caruso wrote: I hope I'm not opening up a can of worms here, but I don't think his graphics are in error. I think he is using the terminology in a way that was standard in some circles at one time but is not currently in favor in most current intro psych texts. First off, he doesn't define negative reinforce*ment*, he defines negative reinforc*er* as a stimulus that decreases the strength of behavior with it's application. I remember this use of the term negative reinforcer when I was in college. So usually a negative reinforcer is an aversive stimulus whereas a positive reinforcer is generally a pleasant stimulus. In the second graphic he explains that when a negative reinforcer is present following the response, this is punishment and decreases the strength of the behavior (no error here). The graphic also says that the removal of a negative reinforcer following a behavior increases its strength (no error here either). He calls this escape, where most intro texts would use the term "negative reinforcement", but escape strikes me as an acceptable, if less common, term. What exactly are the errors in the graphics? Michael Caruso Associate Professor Department of Psychology University of Toledo e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www: http://www.utoledo.edu/~mcaruso/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "DeVolder Carol L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 11:49 AM Subject: RE: apparition I'd say not only does it not help students, it hurts them in the long run. Has anyone considered letting the website author know about his errors? Carol -----Original Message----- From: Stuart Mckelvie [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 8:12 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Re: apparition Dear Ken and Other Tipsters, What a howler! This does not help students.... Stuart Date sent: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 09:00:48 -0500 From: Ken Steele <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: apparition To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send reply to: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> But look at the definition of negative reinforcement on that web site! http://intropsych.mcmaster.ca/intropsych/1a3/Learn/lec3-1.htm Ken Mike Scoles wrote: http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/psychology/psych1a6/1a3/S_P/lec3-3.htm Allan & Siegel proposed that the afterimage is a compensatory response, conditioned to orientation (or other) cues as they are paired with the inducing color--much like Siegel's earlier explanation of drug tolerance and withdrawal (cues paired with a drug elicit compensatory responses that are seen as withdrawal, or that attenuate subsequent responses to the drug). ************************************************* Michael T. Scoles, Ph.D. Director, Arkansas Charter School Resource Center Associate Professor of Psychology & Counseling University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR 72035 voice: (501) 450-5418 fax: (501) 450-5424 ************************************************* -----Original Message----- From: Annette Taylor, Ph. D. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 8:56 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Re: apparition More on the McCullough Effect please! Annete --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D., Phone: (819)822-9600 Chairperson, Extension 2402 Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Fax: (819)822-9661 3 Route 108 East, Borough of Lennoxville, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sherbrooke, Quebec J1M 1Z7, Canada. Bishop's University Psychology Department Web Page: http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Steven M. Specht, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Department of Psychology Utica College Utica, NY 13502 (315) 792-3171 "unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers" --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Jean-Marc Perreault Yukon College Whitehorse, Yukon 867-668-8867 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]