470 Part VI Learning-Cognitive Theories
by a group she has neither seen nor heard but one she has been told is similar to
her favorite rock group. Technically, people do not generalize from one situation
to another, but rather they react to a new situation in the same manner that they
reacted to an earlier one because the two situations possess some identical ele-
ments; that is, buying a ticket to one rock concert contains elements identical to
buying a ticket to a different rock concert. Skinner (1953) put it this way: “The
reinforcement of a response increases the probability of all responses containing
the same elements” (p. 94).Reinforcement
According to Skinner (1987a), reinforcement has two effects: It strengthens the
behavior and it rewards the person. Reinforcement and reward, therefore, are not
synonymous. Not every behavior that is reinforced is rewarding or pleasing to the
person. For example, people are reinforced for working, but many find their jobs
boring, uninteresting, and unrewarding. Reinforcers exist in the environment and
are not something felt by the person. Food is not reinforcing because it tastes good;
rather, it tastes good because it is reinforcing (Skinner, 1971).
Any behavior that increases the probability that the species or the individual
will survive tends to be strengthened. Food, sex, and parental care are necessary
for the survival of the species, and any behavior that produces these conditions is
reinforced. Injury, disease, and extremes in climate are detrimental to survival, and
any behavior that tends to reduce or avoid these conditions is likewise reinforced.
Reinforcement, therefore, can be divided into that which produces a beneficial
environmental condition and that which reduces or avoids a detrimental one. The
first is called positive reinforcement; the second is negative reinforcement.Positive Reinforcement Any stimulus that, when added to a situation, increases
the probability that a given behavior will occur is termed a positive reinforcer
(Skinner, 1953). Food, water, sex, money, social approval, and physical comfort
usually are examples of positive reinforcers. When made contingent on behavior,
each has the capacity to increase the frequency of a response. For example, if clear
water appears whenever a person turns on the kitchen faucet, then that behavior is
strengthened because a beneficial environmental stimulus has been added. Much
human and animal behavior is acquired through positive reinforcement. Under
controlled conditions, Skinner was able to train animals to perform a multitude of
relatively complex tasks.
With humans, however, reinforcement is often haphazard, and therefore
learning is inefficient. Another problem with conditioning humans is determining
what consequences are reinforcing and which ones are not. Depending on personal
history, spankings and scoldings might be reinforcing, and kisses and compliments
might be punishing.Negative Reinforcement The removal of an aversive stimulus from a situation
also increases the probability that the preceding behavior will occur. This removal
results in negative reinforcement (Skinner, 1953). The reduction or avoidance of
loud noises, shocks, and hunger pangs would be negatively reinforcing because
they strengthen the behavior immediately preceding them. Negative reinforcement