drmargaret

There is a lot of confusion about the concept of reinforcement for people not in the field of psychology. Reinforcement is doing something that causes a behavior to increase. This isn’t restricted to positive reinforcement. It includes negative reinforcement.

A small boy was in my office with his even younger sister and their mother. The mother wasn’t able to get either child to sit in a chair. The mother wasn’t issuing commands or reinforcing commands. It was dangerous for the children to run out of the office or to climb up onto chairs and stand on them. So I intervened.

I commanded the children to sit down in their chairs. The boy sat down. I said “good.” The girl ran over to the door. I picked the girl up and put her in the chair and said “sit here.” The boy started getting up from the chair and I stood up and he sat back down. So did I.

Reinforcement takes place prior to a behavior occuring. It increases the likelihood that the behavior will increase. Saying “good” is positive reinforcement. Standing up by me, is a negative reinforcer. It also increases the likelihood that the child will sit down. It doesn’t involve praise or rewards. It involves my doing something the child wants to stop, like me coming over to him and putting him in the chair. It happens before he sits. It increases the likelihood of his sitting.

Children reinforce their parents as well. The girl started screaming. The mother reached for her. I prevented the mother from removing the child from the chair. The mother complained that the child screamed often. Of course she did. Every time she screamed she got stuff. If that happened at my work I’d scream all the time too. Initially, without getting her usual scream based reward, the girl screamed more and louder. When it didn’t work, she sat crying softly, but she sat. The boy sat without crying. He got to play with toys in the office. I gave the girl a couple of plastic blocks to play with as she remained seated. Eventually the mother couldn’t tolerate the child sitting down and crying and felt it was necessary to pick the girl up. She told me the girl couldn’t remain sitting in a chair. I pointed that the child had been seated for almost five minutes and the boy was seated for almost ten minutes. There was no problem in getting either child to sit down. There was a problem with getting them to stay seated for long periods of time, because they hadn’t practiced the behavior. That would require more training.

The mother put the children on the floor and they ran around again. An office assistant came into the office and told the children to sit down. Both children sat down on his command. They understood and could follow directions for this stranger. They had been trained by their mother not to follow her directions. She would need to change her behavior and reinforce commands to get the children to listen to her.

Negative reinforcement is not the same as punishment. Punishment happens after a behavior has occurred. It’s a slap on a wrist, a removal of some wanted item, a critical remark, the dreaded word “no.” It happens after the behavior has already taken place. It is very ineffective at changing behavior because it happens too late. Punishment increases lying and sneaky behavior. People attempt to avoid punishment. Because the behavior has already occurred and can’t be undone the only thing to do is to deny the behavior or change the evidence.

Reinforcement trains behaviors that are desired. It works.

Cinnamon decided that several stuffed plush toys needed to die today. I have no idea what these inanimate objects could possibly have done to offend this eight year old Dalmation. Clearly the green frog was the worst offender. Perhaps it was it’s hiding out under the couch. Perhaps it was that our other Dalmation, Baxter, got it to squeek out of turn. I noticed the homicide when the frog flew across the room with Cinnamon growling at it. She then tossed it back and ran after it again. When she finally caught up with it she had to bite it numerous times. If stuffing started coming out she put a paw on it and started pulling out the rest of the stuffing.

Normally, Cinnamon kills her stuffed toys heads first. There are several toys laying around in disaray missing eyes and mouths. I understand that sometimes when cats or birds wander near the sliding glass door and she can’t get to them, that something needs to be sacrificed and a plush toy fulfills that need. I understand that when Baxter takes her coveted space on the bed, that something needs to help her manage that frustration. I just don’t know why she chooses the frog or the chipmunk as opposed to the purple elephant, the animals that make animal sounds, the cats, the birds, or the hundreds of other plush animals she has available to destroy. What makes the frog or the chipmunk so special?

I got her a couple of cat toys that look like wildlife, some mice and rats made in suede, some toys with openings for catnip that were easy to add squeekers to. Baxter found them amusing for a day or so. Cinnamon wasn’t interested except when Baxter wanted them.

The best place I found stuffed animals has been at Albertson’s market. These are children’s toys with a sack of pellets in them that can easily be removed and replaced with squeekers. I’ve gotten several cats and dogs from there for about $5.00 each. Comparable plush toys at large pet stores range from $10.00 to $12.00. I also found out that Build-A-Bear Company sells the types of squeekers that make music or noises separately. I can add a variety of squeekers. Of course, with a sewing machine I can make plush toys from remnant fabrics for the dogs as well.

Plush toys can survive a kill or two. More than three total kills or a full head or face removal and it gets to be too much for a simple repair. The frog is starting to bite the dust. It won’t be too long for the chipmunk.

Tonight Cinnamon is asleep with her paw on the frog. It’s missing part of it’s face. She’s very happy and running in her dreams. Maybe she’s still chasing the frog.