Diana:
First of all, your subject line ("Classical Emotional Responses") led me to
wonder if you're incorrectly using this phrase in place of the correct
"Conditioned Emotional Response."
On to operant conditioning. The question about "positive" and "negative" has
been discussed for many years among behavior analysts. The proper meanings
of the terms are not in question. The issue has to do with whether these
terms should continue being used in light of the almost inevitable confusion
they engender among students. There have been many suggestions for
alternative terms. For instance, some call positive reinforcement
"reinforcement," negative reinforcement "escape," positive punishment
"punishment," and negative punishment "penalty." None of these alternative
labeling schemes has caught on with the behavioral community at large.
I think it's very useful in teaching reinforcement and punishment to point
out that both of these general methods of increasing and decreasing
(respectively) the frequency of responses has two fundamental variants: we
can reinforce a response by PRESENTING something following the response or
by REMOVING something. Similarly, we can punish a response by PRESENTING
something following the response or by REMOVING something. When we reinforce
by PRESENTING (a stimulus, event, or condition), it's POSITIVE
REINFORCEMENT. Similarly, when we punish by PRESENTING, it's POSITIVE
PUNISHMENT. When we reinforce by REMOVING, it's NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT, and
when we punish by REMOVING, it's NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT.
Some object to using these all of these terms, especially "positive
punishment" and "negative punishment." But I think it can be useful if we
STRESS that when dealing with reinforcement and punishment, "positive" means
presentation and "negative" means removal. This is not difficult for
students to grasp if it's presented in a very simply structured form such as
I've suggested. A 4-cell matrix is also very useful.
Like Stephen, I strongly urge you NOT to use terms such as "pleasant" and
"unpleasant." The functions of reinforcers and punishers arise entirely from
their effects on behavior. Students will, themselves, use these mentalistic
terms, and this should be discouraged, because it will usually lead to
confusion sooner or later.
Best wishes,
Pat Williams
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Patrick S. Williams
Dept. of Social Sciences
University of Houston-Downtown
