Reinforcement involves doing something to support a particular pattern of behavior. Therefore, it increases the probability of a specific behavior. When done correctly, it makes the behavior to occur more in the future. Punishment, on the other hand, the reduces the occurrence of a particular behavior.
In positive reinforcement, one receives something that encourages the favorable behavior to occur again. An example is giving a child a bicycle when he performs well. The behavior, which is performing well, has desirable consequences and therefore the child will repeat it. In negative reinforcement, a certain item is removed when a certain behavior is shown ( Lösel and Farrington, 2012). Maria hates it when her mother for not cleaning her shoes. She wipes her shoes immediately she gets home to avoid being shouted at. Negative reinforcement, therefore, increases the likelihood of a certain behavior occurring in future to avoid the negative stimuli (shouting). In positive punishment, an unfavorable event occurs in response to a behavior that is unfavorable ( Gershoff, 2013). An example is when a person eats food that is already spoilt an in return gets a bad stomach. The behavior will, therefore, occur less often in future. In negative punishment, a certain stimulus is removed after a certain undesired behavior takes place. This results in the behavior in taking place less often. An example is when a child beats a friend and his favorite toy is taken away from him. The undesired behavior will decrease to avoid the end result.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In the sensorimotor stage which is between birth to two years, the toddlers are naive and should receive positive reinforcement. Children in the preoperational stage should receive both the positive and negative reinforcement because they can differentiate between good and bad ( Waller et al. 2012). Children in the concrete operational stage start becoming responsible. Positive punishment is applicable to them. In the formal operational stage, the adolescents are fully accountable for their mistakes and they should receive negative punishment.
References
Gershoff, E. T. (2013). Spanking and child development: We know enough now to stop hitting our children. Child development perspectives , 7 (3), 133-137.
Lösel, F., & Farrington, D. P. (2012). Direct protective and buffering protective factors in the development of youth violence. American journal of preventive medicine , 43 (2), S8-S23.
Waller, R., Gardner, F., Hyde, L. W., Shaw, D. S., Dishion, T. J., & Wilson, M. N. (2012). Do harsh and positive parenting predict parent reports of deceitful ‐ callous behavior in early childhood?. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 53 (9), 946-953.
