Tipsters:
When I saw Steve's message about the Britannica (sic) web site, I thought I
would check something that I knew was a problem with Encarta...and sure
enough...this is what Britannica has to say:
In instrumental conditioning, rewards, such as praise and approval from
parents, act as positive reinforcers of specific learned behaviours, while
punishments act as negative reinforcers and make the future performance of
such behaviours less likely to occur. --------------
Almost every encyclopedia I have checked states that negative reinforcement
decreases behavior...and we wonder why our students can't seem to get it
right.
