Category: Reinforcement

Operant conditioning is one of the theories of learning founded by a famous American psychologist Skinner, but the real founder of the theory is Edward Thorndike. Operant conditioning is a process that attempts to modify behaviour through rewards (reinforcement) or through consequences (punishment).

Reinforcement defined as an increase in a good behaviour after the reward and praise, and the reinforcement divided into two types: positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement is the positive results given to the person after the desired behavior and this increases the continuation of this behavior, and there are some examples of positive reinforcement: The mother gives her daughter a game if she solve her homework. As you can see in this example, (Solving homework) is the good and desired behaviour, and (the game) is the reward and praise for this ac. A man goes to work every day to receive a salary. As you can see also in this example, (going to work every day) is the desired behaviour and (the salary) is the reward because he goes to work every day.

Negative reinforcement: Negative reinforcement is removing something unloved after good or desired behaviour, this is also meant to increase behavior behavior, and there are some examples of negative reinforcement: A girl who takes a shower to remove the bad smell from her body. As you can see in this example, (taking a shower) is the desired behavior and bad smell is the bad thing that the girl wants to remove. The child solves his homework to stop his mother screaming. As you can see also in this example, solve the homework is the desired behavior and the scream of the mother is the bad thing that the child wants to remove and stop it.

Punishment: Punishment occurs when you see bad behavior from the person then punished him to learning and does not repeat this behavior, and punishment divided into two types: positive punishment and negative punishment.

Positive punishment: Positive punishment is used to reduce the bad behavior and offers something unloved after behavior, and there are some examples of positive punishment: The boy was come late to the school and the teacher was punished him and gave him a lot of homework. As you can see in this example, the boy come late to the school is the bad behavior and give a lot of homework is punishment because he is late for school and the teacher punished him to not repeat this behavior. The child gets a beating when he puts his hand on the cake. As you can see in this example, puts the child his hand on the cake is the bad behavior and the beating is the punishment so that he does not repeat it.

Negative punishment: Negative punishment is also used to reduce the bad behavior and remove something lovable after behavior, and there are some examples of negative punishment: Two children fight each other to take a toy, so their mother takes the toy from them. As you can see in this example, the fight between the two children is the bad behavior and taking the toy is the punishment until they stop the fight and do not repeat this behavior.

Skinner has done many experiments on animals, so he used a box called his name (Box Skinner), and the following include some of his experiments. Skinner’s classic studies on rat behaviour: First experiment: Where a rat was put in a box so that it can be seen from inside, it was noted that the rat always tries to search for food inside the box, and by mistake he click on a specific place appeared a small meal of food, and was repeated this way to get more food. The experience that explains you positive reinforcement and is that you gets a rewarded after you do desired behavior.

Second experiment: Skinner put an electric current in the box and this was bothering the mouse and harming him and by wrong the mouse pressure on the crane and stopped the electric current, then the mouse learn that if he wants to remove the electric current is pressing pressure on the crane. This experiment explains to you the negative reinforcement that is to remove something unloved or bad after the desired behavior. Skinner’s classic studies on pigeon behaviour: Skinner did an experiment on the pigeon to study his behavior, where two buttons in the box, one of the buttons if she click it will not get food and one of the buttons if she click it will get food, and whenever the pigeon is hungry she click the button and get food. This experience also explains positive reinforcement.

There are some situations and events I have done in my life that make you understand more about positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment and negative punishment. Example of positive reinforcement: My big sister asked me to help her in a project of a course material and she told me if you helped me I would order you a McDonald’s meal, so now whenever my sister asked me for help I help her to reward me by something I love.

Example of negative reinforcement: When I had a headache and my head hurts me a lot I took a panadol to remove the pain away from me. As you can see in this example, taking a panadol is the desired behavior and the headache is the thing that I want to remove it and then I learned that taking a panadol will decrease the pain of headache. Example of positive punishment: When I was little, my sisters and I went on the roof of our house. My father knew that we had gone over the roof and he beat us and shouted us because he feared us and did not want us to hurt. Then I learned not go over the roof again so I would not be punished.

Example of negative punishment: One day in school when I was in the tenth grade in the Arabic language class I was talking to my girlfriend in class and the teacher was explaining the lesson, then the teacher saw me and she was very angry, then she decrease my grades. Then I learned that I should not talk to anyone while explaining the teacher, so the teacher not lower my grades.

Inverse reinforcement learning is the problem of making an agent learn reward function by observing an expert agent with a given policy or behavior. RL problems give a powerful solution for sequential problems by making use of agents with a given reward function to find a policy by interacting with the environment. However, one major drawback of RL problems is the assumption that a good reward function – which is a succinct representation of designer’s intention- is given. But, identifying a good reward function can be a difficult task and especially so for complex problems with have large number of states and actions. While ordinary reinforcement learning involves using rewards and punishments to learn behavior, in IRL the direction is reversed, and a robot observes an expert’s behavior to figure out what goal that behavior seems to be trying to achieve.

Reinforcement learning is a computational approach to understanding and automating goal-directed learning and decision making. RL techniques solve problems through an agent, which acquires experiences through interactions (trial and error) with a dynamic environment. The result is a policy that can resolve complex tasks without specific instructions on how the tasks are to be achieved. In other terms, reinforcement learning can be said to be a computational approach towards learning through interactions (behavioral psychology) that is applied by humans in nature where we learn from the mistakes committed and try to not perform the same mistake again when a similar situation arises. Reinforcement learning has better generalizing properties and differs from supervised learning, which uses labeled examples- because labels might not be representative enough to cover all situations. Unsupervised learning is typically about finding structure hidden in collections of unlabeled data and thus differs from reinforcement learning.

RL problems assume that an optimal reward function is given and build on it to form a policy for the agent. Reward function is the most succinct representation of the user’s intention since it specifies the intrinsic desirability of an event for the 1 system. But, providing a reward function is a non-trivial problem and can lead to major design difficulties. Inverse Reinforcement Learning (IRL) is more helpful in such cases, where the reward function is learned through expert demonstrations. In the recent years, IRL has attracted several researchers in the communities of artificial intelligence, psychology, control theory, and machine learning. IRL is appealing because of its potential to use data recorded in everyday tasks (e.g., driving data) to build autonomous agents capable of modeling and socially collaborating with others in our society – a form of transfer learning. IRL is also an important approach for learning by demonstration in various settings including robotics and automatic driving. Some applications where IRL has been successfully used are Quadruped locomotion, Helicopter Aerobatics, Parking lot navigation, Urban navigation.

IRL can be seen as a type of Learning from Demonstration or imitation learning technique, where a policy is learned through examples, and the objective of the agent is to reproduce the demonstrated behavior. Imitation learning also learns from expert demonstrations but it is more similar to supervised learning and requires a reward function whereas IRL can infer reward function.

Present article demonstrates a viable method of modification of mango wood (MW) through reactive reinforcement of polyacrylonitrile (PAN). Reactive reinforcement of PAN was conducted through sewlling of MW planks (moisture content: 12.5%) into methanolic solution of acrylonitrile (AN, 20-60%,v/v) supplemented with 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (1.0% w/v) at 30 ± 10C over 48h followed by curing of planks at 80 ± 10C over subsequent 3h.This has afforded a series of wood polymer composites (WPCs) with PAN loading (%) in the range of 5.5 to 15.5. Formation of WPCs was ascertained through scanning electron microscopy. With loading of PAN, WPCs has shown enhanced mechanical durability with improved resistance against organic , hydrolytic media and a decay fungus Coriolous Versicolor. The proposed method of reactive reinforcement of PAN offers a viable way of modification of MW making this suitable for development of durable furniture and building components. Modification of wood through reinforcing polymer materials has received growing attention since decades. This has been in attempt to develop the viable substitute for plastics and steel components in construction applications. The developed products were popularized as wood plastic composites (WPCs) by North Americans. Leo H. Arthur Baekeland was supposed to pioneer in development of WPCs through blending wood flour with a phenolic resin around early 20th century. In subsequent years, American Wood Stocks from North America had accelerated the production and commercialization of WPCs panels for automotive applications. This has made a tremendous industrial growth in wood plastic composites from North America to Europe and Asia as a low-maintenance, high-durability product. Such panels were derived through implication of Italian technology of extrusion wherein wood floor was extruded with equal weight fraction of polypropylene. Around 1960s, Mayer, in interest to enhance the compatibility of wood flour with polymer component , has introduced coupling agents during processing of moulds of WPCs [1-2].

Presently WPCs are developed through either of a non reactive or reactive process. A non reactive process is based on extrusion of wood flour with thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers. Non reactive process delivers highly finished panels of WPCs for immediate applications [3-4]. A reactive process involves infusion of monomers along with co monomers, coupling agents, initiators into properly shaped wood panels swollen in organic media followed by thermal or radiation polymerization [5]. Reactive method delivers WPCs with improved mechanical, thermal dimensional stability and microbial resistance. Many of low grade wood varieties viz; Akamatsu pinus and Cryptomeria japonica, Birch, Poplar-alder, Eucalyptus, Cedar, spruce and beech has been modified using vinyl monomers with acrylate, methacrylate functionalities and styrene [5-8].In this context, a few efforts on development of WPCs using AN has been documented [9-12].Development of wide variety of WPCs from different wood varieties has made difficult to discuss their relative performance and stability. The properties and applications of WPCs are best defined on the basis of their method of processing, product design, service environment, physical and biological durability of wood substrates, reinforced polymer and their mutual compatibilities [13-14].

Socio-economic benefits associated with cultivation of MW for production of nutritious fruit and use of hardwood as construction materials [15-18] and pharmaceutical applications [19] has been realized by many ancient civilizations. Vegetating mango trees suffer from invasion of microorganisms [20], that on harvesting delivers deteriorated wood. Harvested MW exposed under humid environments suffers from dimensional instability, breaking or cracking [21], wherein the wood texture is protected through application of coating finish, that often discolors the texture and native color of MW. [22-23]. For such reasons, MW has been the subject of modification through reinforcing polymer materials. A combined documentation of existing reports interestingly reveals that AN as a monomer has been used for modification of limited number of wood varieties [9-12], no reports are available on modification of MW 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) assisted through reactive reinforcement of PAN. In the present work, a simplified and straight forward method of synthesis of WPCs has been developed through reactive reinforcement of PAN into MW (Mangifera Indica, family Anacardiaceae). Wood and respective WPCs were collectively defined as specimens and were investigated for their mechanical, thermo-oxidative stability, fungal degradation and solubility behavior. AN and AIBN were procured from Ms Sigma Aldrich. AN and purified through multiple number of extractions with aqueous sodium hydroxide solution (10%), followed by washing with distilled water. Fraction of AN collected at 780C was used for development of WPCs. Rest of the chemicals and solvents involved in the study were locally purchased with purity > 98% and were used without further purifications. Planks of MW were fabricated into dimensions as per guidelines of S 1708 66, WPCs were prepared through modifications in the early protocol of wood treatment. [9, 11-12]. A representative protocol demonstrates steps of soxlet extraction of properly finished MW planks in required dimensions (moisture content:12.5%) with toluene: ethanol mixture (2:1,v/v) over 10h , followed by thermal aging at 95±10C and subsequent leaching with water over additional 10 h. The conditioned MW planks were then swollen in methanolic solution of acrylonitrile (20-60%,v/v) supplemented with 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (1.0% w/v) at 30 ± 10C 48h. The treated MW planks were subjected to heat curing at 80 ± 10C over subsequent 3h to derive the WPCs. PAN loading (%) into MW was calculated on the basis of dry weights of unextracted MW and corresponding treated specimens [9]. Electron micrographs of gold coated specimen were scanned at 150x magnifications over LEO-435. Compression and static bending strength of specimen were evaluated over ENKAY-UT-40 Universal testing machine with capacity of 40 tons and least count of 80 kg. Impact testing was carried out over indigenous swinging pendulum machine. Moisture content (ASTM D1037 72a 79), solubility of WPCs in hot water, NaOH (%), organic media (ASTM D 1109 56 72) lignin content (ASTM D 1106-56) were investigated.

Microbial degradations were experimented through incubation of specimens under exposure of decay fungus Coriolous Versicolor with reference to streptomycin at 25 0C over 10 days [6-7]. AN, PAN, AIBN, flours of MW and WPC (60 mesh size) and solvents as control. Mineral salt medium (MSM) was prepared through mixing (g/L) of Na2HPO4.2H2O(7.8),KH2PO4, (6.8), MgSO4 (0.2), NH4 Fe (CH3COO) 3, (0.01), Ca (NO 3) 2. 4H 2O (0.05) at PH 7± 0.1. Flours were separately mixed with MSM thereafter inoculated in presence of fungus at 300 C. Culture filtrate were removed at selected intervals over 24, hours, centrifuged @7500 rpm for 50 min. The supernatant of culture was examined for protein reducing sugars content and enzyme activities. A mixture of Na2CO3 (2.0%), NaOH (0.1N, 50 mL), CuSO4 (0.5g), Sodium potassium tartarate (1.0%, 5 mL) and Folin Ciaclateau reagent (0.50 mL) was incubated at 250C for 30 min. (λ max 660 nm). Standard curve of Bovine Serum albumin (0.5 mL, 20-200 mg/L) was prepared. Standard solutions were also treated as the sample and calibration curve was then plotted. Productions in protein and reducing sugar contents were estimated (mg/mL) with reference to incubation time. CMCase was assayed using CMC (2%) in sodium citrate buffer (PH 4.8, 0.05M). Pre-incubated enzyme (0.5mL) was added to substrate (0.5mL), and incubated at 500 C at 30 min. Xylanase assay was determined by monitoring the release of reducing sugar from oat spelt Xylem. The reaction mixture (0.9 mL enzyme +0.1mL birch Xylem) was incubated at 500C for 10 min. The reducing sugars liberated were spectrally characterized (λ max 540 nm) and estimated .A reference standard of xylose, which gave linear curve at 10 min, was used as positive control. FPase activity was determined through mixing of enzyme (0.5mL) with 1.0 mL citrate buffer (PH 4.8, 0.05M) and Whatman filter paper (N0.1, 1×5 cm =50±0.025 mg) followed by incubation at 500C for 60 min [6,10]. A method of reactive reinforcement of PAN into MW was developed through free radical polymerization of various concentrations of AN in methanol medium. This has afforded a series of WPCs with quantitative loading (wt%) of PAN in the range of 05.50 to 15.50 (Table 1).In order to have further insight into dispersion and compatibility of PAN. MW and a representative WPC with 15.5 % loading were imaged through SEM (Fig 1). SEM image reveals characteristic granular morphology with knots and voids into MW (Fig 1a). Such knots and voids were filled with PAN into MW in a non uniform manner (Fig 1b). PAN reinforcement has reduced the moisture content of MW from 12.50 to 04.45 [Fig.2].Such reduction in moisture content may protect the MW from dimensional instability, breaking or cracking under humid environments and microbial decay of MW [20].This may also circumvent the additional efforts on protection of MW against decay by humid environment through implication of coating finish [22-23]. The complexity and compositional non uniformity makes difficult to dissolve the MW in solvent media. The overall solubility of MW is combination of the ability of individual components of wood that comes into contact with the specified solvent or their mixtures with other solvents. Wood dissolves at the cost of solubility of its any one of the component into the solvent. Organic solvents and water dissolves some of the wood components, however the complex cellular structure makes wood to be highly resistant against many of solvents at ambient temperatures [19].

Fig.3 demonstrates the characteristic solubility behavior of WPCs in various solvent media. Solubility of WPCs was found in reducing order from alcohol benzene media, to hot water and sodium hydroxide (1%) [Fig.3]. With PAN loading, solubility of WPCs in MeOH/benzene mixture was reduced ranging 84.80 to 81.25.However, their solubility reduction in ether was found marginal by 1% in the range of 93.80 to 92.80. Decrease in solubility of WPCs in organic media attributes to protection in leaching of waxes, fats, resins and oil contents from MW. Low solubility of WPCs in NaOH ranging 21.11 to 20.35 attributes to reductions in the proportion of alkali soluble component of wood that impart decrease in the pulp yield [7]. With PAN loading, water solubility of MW was decreased from 37.50 to 33.50. Such reduction in water solubility with simultaneous reduction in moisture content attributes to importance of PAN reinforcement towards improving the performance of MW under out door conditions [21-23]. Mechanical properties, specially the dimensional stabilities of different wood varieties are enhanced with ratio of lignin to cellulose. Mechanical properties, especially dimensional stabilities of various grades woods are best improved through bulking their voids via method of polymer reinforcement [24]. Table 2 demonstrates the effect of quantitative loading of PAN on modification in mechanical properties of WPCs. In general, PAN reinforcement has enhanced the impact strength (Nm) of MW ranging 8.85 to 19.96.This was followed by increase in static bending and compressive strengths (X107, N/m2) ranging 08.08 to 10.67 and 3.23 to 5.00.Mechanical data reveals that reinforcement of PAN was much productive towards gross (%) enhancement in compressive strength of MW (54.79), followed by overall impact strength (34.46) and static bending strength (32.05).Enhancements in mechanical stability of MW attributes to bulking of the voides of MW through reinforcement of PAN [Fig 4]. Fungal degradation was investigated through exposing a representative WPC (15.50 wt% PAN loading) under Coriolous Versicolor. Growth of fungus was noticed over WPC within 10 days of incubation, whereas no fungal growth was observed on WPC under identical experimental conditions. Screening of components involved in the synthesis of WPC against the fungus at 250 ppm reveals 67% inhibition in the growth of fungus by AN. Under identical conditions, benzene and AIBN has shown inhibition in the growth of fungus by 38% and 20% inhibitions respectively. PAN had shown excellent growth in media at £ 15 ppm. Production of protein content was started at 12hr of incubation and reached to a maximum level after 96 hr in the MW and representative WPC. Total amount of protein was increased from 0.14mg/mL at 12 hr to 0.31 mg/mL at 96 hr in the MW. Loading of PAN into MW has decreased protein content (mg/mL) to 0.09 within 12hr. Reducing sugar content (mg/mL) was increased from 0.17 at 12hr to 0.49 at 168 hr. WPC showed decrease in reducing sugar content by 57.12% up to 24 hr. Such increase in the production of protein and reducing sugar by MW and WPCs indicate the availability and accessibility of substrate for the fungus Coriolous Versicolor. Decrease in production of protein after 96 hr of incubation attributes to utilization of most of the substrate by Coriolous Versicolor. Such increase in microbial biomass would add to the total protein availability and degradation of substrate by Coriolous Versicolor in MSM [Fig.5a]. Production of cellulolytic and xylanolytic enzymes was maximized after 168 hr in presence of MW and WPC . Production of Xylanase was found higher over ellulytic enzyme in MW than WPC. In presence of MW, the Xylanase activity was initiated after 12 hr of incubation (0.22 IU/mL) and reached to maximum at 168hr of incubation (0.63 IU/mL). Maximum reduction in the Xylanase activity to 56.5% was assayed for WPC. In presence of MW, FPase activity was started after 12hr of incubation (0.14 IU/mL) and reached to a maximum at 168 hr of incubation (0.45 IU/mL). Maximum reduction in the FPase activity was assayed as 32% for CMCase activity started after 12 hr of incubation (0.15 IU/mL), and it reached to a maximum at 168 hr (0.46 IU/mL) in MW [Fig.5b].

Control over production of protein and reducing sugar contents along with enzyme activities attributes to reduction in moisture content of WPC due to loading of PAN into the MW (Fig 2).Such reduction in moisture content has blocked the blocked transport of moisture which impart resistance to WPCs against degradation by Coriolous Versicolor. [6-8]. Reactive reinforcement of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) into mango wood (MW) has developed wood polymer composites (WPCs) with PAN loading (wt %) of 05.50 to 15.50. Scanning electron microscopy in combination with moisture and lignin content data reveals the the presence of PAN into the matrix of MW. With PAN loading, the mechanical properties of WPCs were increased with simultaneous reduction in their solubility behavior in organic solvents, hot water and aqueous NaOH were WPCs. Effect of PAN was more pronounced towards modification in compressive strength of MW. A representative WPC bearing 15.5 wt % loading of PAN has rendered enhanced resistance against Coriolous versicolor .The presence of PAN has controlled over the release of Protein , reducing sugar contents and enzyme activities in WPCs due to block in the transport of moisture across the cell lumens of MW ,resisting the decay of WPCs in presence of decay fungus. Research grant of Govt. of India. Defense Research Development Organization Letter No EPIR/ER/0003266/M/01/13-9-2001is hereby acknowledged .There is no conflict of interest among authors from different academic Institutions.

Topic Background/Introduction: This paper studies the effect over pleasure centers on an organism’s behavior, specifically the outcome if the organism can stimulate them on command. The specific stated topic is “reinforcing function of the electrical stimulation”, which essentially means that instead of using electric impulse to study what it triggers (movement, emotion, reaction), this is using electric impulse to study reward and punishment perception.

Hypothesis: The hypothesis, although never directly stated, appears to be that electric stimulation via the use of chronically implanted electrodes in male hooded rats, has the ability to interact with the physical structures of the brain in such a way that there is correlation of acquisition scores with anatomical structures

Method: This study was conducted on a group of 15 male hooded rats, weighing around 250 gm each. The experiment was conducted in a Skinner box, providing an isolated and variable controlled environment. This particular box design delivered alternating currents to the brain when a lever was activated. Currents were delivered via electrode needles that insulated from one another, and on all parts of their structure except the tip that were implanted in the desired brain structures.

The needles were implanted under general anesthesia and the rats given a three day recovery period prior to the experiment. Once healed and X Rayed to ensure proper placement of the needles, they were placed in the box where a current was delivered over a loose lead from the ceiling, connecting the stimulator (the lever the rat can press) to the rat’s electrode.

The rats were given a total of 6 to 12 hr. of acquisition testing (if the mouse activated the lever in the box, electric stimulation was provided at their control), and 1 to 2 hr. of extinction testing (if the mouse activated the lever in the box, nothing happened). The portion of acquisition time spent activating the lever was recorded and compared with the portion of extinction time spent doing the same to determine whether the stimulation had a positive, negative, or neutral reinforcing effect. Once the portion of the study in which shocks were delivered or not delivered had concluded, the rats were “sacrificed” and their brains sections and preserved in formalin so the structures could be studied.

Results: Highest scores were from mice with electrodes placed in the central portion of the forebrain, these mice had behavior most closely mimicking conventional environmental reward systems such as food or physical contact. When electrodes were placed near the caudate nucleus or in the area of the corpus callosum, the stimulus is registered as a neutral environmental factor, neither a punishment or a reward. While several other locations in the brain registered as positive, the medial lemniscus, and the posterior portion of the medial geniculate bodies registered as a negative stimulus.

One location performed as an outlier in positive stimulus, that being the placement between the red nucleus and the posterior commissure, however other factors make it difficult to compare to the other data points. Looking at the data collected on behavior of mice in the study, the more indicative of a positive stimulus the results were, the more they pressed the trigger to activate it.

Discussion/Interpretation: These results indicate that the locations in the brain primarily responsible for reward function are likely centered on the septal area, as the rats with electrodes placed there had reaction to stimulus most similar to that in an organic environment. That said, this result only stands under the supported assumption that the rats do not seek the electric stimulation to alleviate pain or reduce some other desire. Expansion: In this experiment, the scientists worked under several assumptions, and although said assumptions are not unreasonable, it would have better supported their results had they run complementary experiments to have comparable data on what it would look like if the rats being studied were to use the electric stimulus to relieve pain or alleviate a different need. This would eliminate or at least reduce the magnitude of the assumption that their results indicated exactly what they intended to study.

From a humanitarian perspective it would likely have been more ethically sound to explore the possibility of studying changes to the rat’s brain with the use of X Ray or MRI type technology, so that they would not have been killed once they had satisfied their experimental purpose. The question of ethicality would also have been more sound had the scientists had some point of comparison for what the rat’s reactions looked like if they were seeking electric stimuli for a reason other than pleasure, as this could have eliminated the aforementioned assumption that the rats were not in pain.

Finally, the experiment could have cross examined its findings with a study of which portions of the brain react under natural environmental stimuli, this would have ensured that the electrode placement was aligned with the portions of the brain that typically exhibit reward function, and could have prevented any question as to the effect of electric stimuli affecting all parts of the brain in a uniform manner.

Positive reinforcement at home and school – good or bad?

There are plenty of factors contributing to the education of a child. Family disputes, bullying, and learning disabilities are just some of the issues children are faced with, even from a very young age. Discipline, however, could be a major contributing factor to the behavior of a child. Furthermore, how exactly does discipline affect a child’s education Throughout the school system in the U.S., teachers working with students, even with younger children at elementary schools, student discipline is a major issue. The amount of attitude, non-compliance, rudeness, and even aggressiveness across schools is outrageous and parents and school staff sometimes do not see eye to eye about enforcing the right behavior. For instance, when a child needs to have a consequence for their wrongdoing, the parents are not always on the same page with school staff. Quite the contrary, some parents turn everything around and blame the school for their child’s misbehavior. Thus, it is not a bad thing to teach a child to respect, have manners, and follow the rules. Furthermore, discipline does play a very important role in a child’s education, and there are various ways and methods to implement discipline.

Within my research, I have found many articles about positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. What is positive and negative reinforcement? “Positive reinforcement works by presenting a motivating/reinforcing stimulus to the person after the desired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior more likely to happen in the future. Negative reinforcement occurs when a certain stimulus (usually an aversive stimulus) is removed after a particular behavior is exhibited. The likelihood of the particular behavior occurring again in the future is increased because of removing/avoiding the negative consequence. Negative reinforcement should not be thought of as a punishment procedure. With negative reinforcement, you are increasing a behavior, whereas with punishment, you are decreasing a behavior.” (Prince) With punishment, always remember that the end result is to try to decrease the undesired behavior. Positive punishment involves adding an aversive consequence after an undesired behavior is emitted to decrease future responses. Negative punishment includes taking away a certain reinforcing item after the undesired behavior happens in order to decrease future responses. It should be noted that research shows that positive consequences are more powerful than negative consequences for improving behavior. (Prince)

According to Jack Michael, these methods were first presented in 1938, by B.F. Skinner, in his book, The Behavior of Organisms. After a series of experiments and his research, he shows how These terms and their uses are not new, they merely are not being implemented often and/or are not being used properly because of the lack of knowledge of the way it should be used. Additionally, the terms “positive” and “negative” are being confused for what those term are usually used for.

Additionally, reinforcement, whether positive or negative, means that a behavior is being encouraged, while punishment, on the other hand, is meant to discourage the behavior. In terms of behavior with reinforcement and punishment, the terms positive and negative are not used in the way these words are usually mean. These terms can be a bit confusing, but we can think of positive in the sense of something being “added” and negative being something that is “removed or taken away”. (Craig) Studies show that all four of these methods of modifying behavior are an effective way to teach discipline and responsibility. There are many ways to implement these types behavior-changing methods that will result in modified behavior.

Furthermore, will enforcing discipline help a child’s ability to learn better? There are many positive outcomes resulting from reinforcement, not only improving a child’s ability to learn, this could also help teach children responsibility including using good manners. Currently, teachers struggle with being able to effectively apply these strategies to their lessons. Teachers new and old are experiencing adversity when applying current teaching techniques such as positive reinforcement in their classrooms. Many teachers argue that all staff should be thoroughly trained to be able to implement these strategies, in order to have a more effective outcome. If all the school staff is on the same page with these methods, then the result of more good student behavior would be more likely. Although it takes time to become fluent in any teaching strategy it is very important that teachers start with building a positive relationship between their students, and their teaching peers as well. It is only when a student trusts their positive role model that they are able to benefit from positive reinforcement in their classroom. Through research it is proven that students will benefit from positive reinforcement in the classroom if used effectively by disciplined staff. (Rumfola) Good student behavior is often overlooked, and children do not get praised for doing things the right way, using their manners, being polite, etc. In some instances, this is why many students do not care about increasing their good behavior because it is not encouraged. By using positive reinforcement, this makes the child feel good about themselves and about their behavior and will result with the child continuing to behave in such manner.

Enforcing discipline, using positive and negative reinforcement, would work best if it is used at school and at home, according to research. Most teachers have a very strict schedule and their time to actually teach is limited. If they have constant behavior problems, then it becomes absolutely impossible for them to teach in the time they are given. However, if parents are not enforcing this type of reinforcement at home as well, then it may not be as effective and could just confuse the child. The ways of implementing any of these methods for better behavior are endless and usually involve rewards that are low to no cost. Positive reinforcement doesn’t actually have to be something like a tangible item. Instead, the options for complimenting a student for their behavior include giving a high five, offering praise, giving a hug or pat on the back, giving a thumbs-up, clapping and cheering, and speaking with another adult about how proud you are of your child’s behavior while your child is listening. (Morin) The development of a child is something that never stops and just keeps growing as they are growing up. Most of the time the behavior they display is a behavior they have heard or seen someone else doing before. For example, if a child sees that their father does not like vegetables, therefore, does not eat them, then the child will most likely mimic what they see. It is almost impossible, and very confusing to the child, to try and encourage a child to do something when they are witnessing the exact opposite. Some examples of Positive Reinforcement are:

• The students in a teacher’s class receive a sticker if they completed their homework.
• A child is rewarded with $1 for every A he receives on his/her report card.
• The students in a classroom receive a cookie party on Friday if all students had excellent behavior all week.

Negative Reinforcement includes:

• A child can go watch television, after they finish all of their vegetables.
• A child cleans their room so that their mom will stop nagging them.
• A child presses the “stop” button when the loud alarm starts going off.

Positive Punishment includes:

• A child gets yelled at by the teacher for picking his nose.
• A child does not finish his work in class and has to finish the work for homework along with the initial homework he/she had for the day.

Negative Punishment includes:

• A child hits one of his classmates and has to sit out while all other students play in the playground outside for recess.
• A child yells at their mom at the store and the mom does not buy the toy he/she wanted her to buy.
• A child hits their sibling and the child gets their favorite electronic taken away.

Behavior modification assumes that observable and measurable behaviors are good targets for change. All behavior follows a set of consistent rules. Methods can be developed for defining, observing, and measuring behaviors, as well as designing effective interventions. Behavior modification techniques never fail. Rather, they are either applied inefficiently or inconsistently, which leads to less than desired change. All behavior is maintained, changed, or shaped by the consequences of that behavior. Although there are certain limits, such as temperamental or emotional influences related to ADHD or depression, all children function more effectively under the right set of consequences. Reinforcers are consequences that strengthen behavior. Punishments are consequences that weaken behavior. (Mather and Goldstein) All children are unique and learn in different ways and some techniques work better with some children than with others, but with the amount of resources and adequate training, a child’s behavior could be improved tremendously. Although, implementing these techniques with students with more sensitive learning disabilities can be a challenge, it is very possible and even more effective. With technology being so advanced, now days, the opportunities and options are endless. According to reports, teachers are more intense and controlling when interacting with children with ADHD. Within school settings, children with ADHD appear to experience negative consequences because of their temperament and a performance history that often involves beginning but not completing tasks. Many teachers in this circumstance unfortunately tend to focus on the misbehavior rather than on the reduction or termination of the behavior. This may further disrupt the classroom by disturbing other students. This naturally occurring pattern of teachers paying less attention to desirable behavior and more attention to undesirable behavior, as children progress through school, places children with ADHD at a greater disadvantage than their classmates. (Mather and Goldstein)

Discipline in schools has changed very much and is definitely not like old times. It wasn’t too long ago that school rooms were places of stern words and plentiful discipline. It was commonplace for teachers to favor harsh punishment over positive punishment, including using the cane. Now, however, it is recognized that there are more effective ways to teach and to manage classrooms. Techniques such as the ones stated above, like, positive and negative reinforcement, and positive and negative punishment. These are all forms of learning whereby the contingency between a specific behavior and a desirable or undesirable consequence help increase the likelihood of the behavior recurring. (Craig) Using these techniques, allow children to have much better ways to improve their behavior and get praised for continuing that behavior, instead of the old way of only punishment.

In conclusion, positive and negative reinforcement along with positive and negative punishment have a very powerful impact on a child’s behavior. The interest that an adult puts into a child’s life and education is so important and can be memorable for a child. Taking the time to implement methods like these can definitely help a child’s ability to learn and behave better. Even though, children may be facing many other personal challenges, this type of reinforcement can be very helpful to their everyday outlook and can even be life changing. Improving a child’s behavior is not only beneficial for the child, but if used at school and at home properly then parents, along with teachers can definitely benefit from this as equally.

Works Cited

1. Craig, Heather. “5 Activities For Using Positive Reinforcement in the Classroom.” PositivePsychology.com, 7 Nov. 2019, https://positivepsychology.com/positive-reinforcement-classroom/.
2. Mather, Nancy, and Goldstein,Sam. “Behavior Modification In The Classroom.” Center for Development and Learning, 01 Jan. 2001, https://www.cdl.org/articles/behavior-modification-in-the-classroom/.
3. Michael, Jack. “Positive and Negative Reinforcement, a Distinction That Is No Longer Necessary; Or a Better Way to Talk about Bad Things.” Behaviorism, vol. 3, no. 1, 1975, pp. 33–44. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27758829.
4. Morin, Amy. “Improve Your Child’s Behavior Problems With Positive Reinforcement.” Verywell Family, Verywell Family, 13 Sept. 2019, https://www.verywellfamily.com/positive-reinforcement-child-behavior-1094889.
5. Prince, Kelley. “The Difference between Positive/Negative Reinforcement and Positive/Negative Punishment.” Behavior Analysts Tampa: ABA Therapy, Autism, Behavior Problems, 6 Feb. 2013, https://bcotb.com/the-difference-between-positivenegative-reinforcement-and-positivenegative-punishment/.
6. Rumfola, Lindsey, ‘Positive Reinforcement Positively Helps Students in the Classroom’ (2017). Education and Human Development Master’s Theses. 786. http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/ehd_theses/786

1. Human resource development.

Human resource development includes the training of an employee after he/she has been hired by providing opportunities such as employee training, employee career development, coaching, mentoring and succession planning for learning new skills, knowledge and abilities that are both beneficial to the individual and also to the organization.

Types of Human Resource Development

• On the job training which involves impacting knowledge and skills to an employee to perform a task while still performing that same task.
• Job shadowing which involves an employee observing/shadowing another employee who’s performing a job in order to acquire the needed skills of doing that job.
• Professional development which involves attending organized seminars and training.

Once employees undergo development and training, it increases the firm’s competitive advantage which is the ability possessed by an organization over that of another organization.

Advantages human resource development

There are several advantages associated with human resource development, both for employees and their employer:

1. Though HR development, a company can get the most superior workforce it can and this will go a long way in accomplishing company goals.
2. Employees become more adept at their jobs and this translates to higher productivity, higher efficiency and lower rates of accidents.
3. HR development equips employees with necessary skills and qualities to take over superior post of increased responsibility instead of hiring from outside the company
4. A good HR development program becomes a way of attracting and retaining top talent. This will enable the company to compete favorably in the job market.

Theories of human resource development

1. Theory of reinforcement

Reinforcement theory was published by an American social philosopher, psychologist and behaviorist Burrhus Frederic Skinner in 1957. Reinforcement theory is one of the oldest theories of motivation as it tries to explain individual’s behavior and why we do what we do. It is also known as Behaviorism or Operant conditioning. The theory evolved out of frustration by researchers as they were dissatisfied with the lack of a direct observable phenomenon that could be measured and experimented with. As a result they explored only the behaviors that could be observed and measured away from the mysterious workings of the mind (Funder, 2010). Reinforcement theory had its beginnings in Pavlov’s conditioning experiments and has evolved through Skinner’s operant conditioning to Bandura’s social learning and social cognitive theory.

There are two types of reinforcement; positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement results when the occurrence of a valued behavioral consequence has the effect of strengthening the probability of the behavior being repeated. The specific behavioral consequence is called a reinforcer.

Negative reinforcement results when an undesirable behavioral consequence is withheld, with the effect of strengthening the probability of the behavior being repeated. Negative reinforcement is often confused with punishment, but they are not the same. Punishment attempts to decrease the probability of specific behaviors; negative reinforcement attempts to increase desired behavior.

Extinction is similar to punishment in that its purpose is to reduce unwanted behavior. The process of extinction begins when a valued behavioral consequence is withheld in order to decrease the probability that a learned behavior will continue. Over time, this is likely to result in the ceasing of that behavior.

Skinner (1957), suggested that training and development programs should be aligned with the organizational objectives and a positive outcome should expected by the management as a result of such programs. It can be argued that there are several techniques available in human resource practices which can be associated with the training and development programs and the required suggestion by this theory can be fulfilled. Different types of rewards in the form of bonuses, salary raises, promotion and awarding of certificate after the training program can be associated with the training and development activities and these rewards will definitely generate a positive outcome.

Strengths of the reinforcement theory.

1. It is can be easily applied in an organization as it deals with learned behaviors. Employees deal with certain responses, stimuli and their consequences and since behaviors are rewarded or punished, it can be easy to encourage or change the employees responses by manipulating the stimuli (Operant Conditioning, 2006).
2. It has an impressive research result supports this theory because of its focus on observable behavior and as a result research has empirically proven that the reinforcement theory works.
3. By installing a schedule of reinforcement will keep the employees involved and on their toes because the employee does not know when a performance review is coming and so they cannot afford to work poorly on any given task (Redmond, 2010).
4. Unlike Needs Theory of motivation which focused on internal needs, Reinforcement Theory is based on external conditions. Within the workplace, organizational management theorists look to the environment to explain and control people’s behavior. Because of this, it may be easier to motivate a group of workers through external factors such as pay raise, promotion, etc. (Operant Conditioning, 2006).

Weaknesses of reinforcement theory

1. The reinforcement theory only considers behavior and consequences without considering processes of internal motivation or individual differences (Redmond, 2010).
2. In reinforcement Theory it is difficult to identify rewards or punishments (Booth-Butterfield, 1996). Each human being is different and unique, and Reinforcement Theory has to take this into account. A reward that works for one person may not work for someone else.
3. The control and manipulation of rewards in order to change behavior is considered unethical by some through imposing the freewill of the employees (Redmond, 2010).

According to the findings and conclusions of behaviorism, to a large extent, are based on research with animals. Thorndike used cats; Pavlov used dogs, and Skinner – pigeons and rats. Many aspects that are important to human beings, such as problem-solving and thinking process, are not addressed by behaviorism. The emphasis is on the environmental stimuli that modify behavior, not on any internal factors that may be present (Funder, 2010).

Some researchers believed that the theory ignored many important psychological phenomena. Kohler believed that animals, specifically chimpanzees, developed insight regarding their situation, thereby developing an understanding regarding their condition. The emphasis here was the immediacy at which the chimpanzees applied their response, as opposed to a more gradual learned behavior. This indicated a comprehension and understanding of stimuli and consequences resulting in immediate responses (Kohler, 1925; Gleitman, 1995). Kohler’s research on insight applied to behaviorism would eventually lead to the beginnings of social learning theory, as well as some cognitive research (Funder, 2007). Recent research has shown that intrinsic motivators have shown to be more effective motivators. Instead of organizations instituting financial bonuses (carrots) or threats of disciplinary action (sticks), autonomy, mastery, and purpose have shown to improve motivation, quality of performance, while reducing attrition rates in organizations.

References

1. Booth-Butterfield, S. (1996). Reinforcement theory. Retrieved September 6, 2009, from http://faculty.mdc.edu/jmcnair/joe%20lynn%20jr/Articles/Reinforcement%20Theory.htm
2. Funder, D.C (2007). The Personality Puzzle (4th Edition). New York: W.W. Norton & Company
3. Kohler, W. (1925). The mentality of apes (E. Winter, Trans.). New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World.
4. Operant conditioning: Encyclopedia of Management. (2006). In Helms, M. M. & Cengage, G. (Ed). eNotes.com. Retrieved September 6, 2009, from http://www.enotes.com/management-encyclopedia/operant-conditioning
5. Redmond, B.F. (2010). Reinforcement Theory: What are the Rewards for My Work? Work Attitudes and Motivation. The Pennsylvania State University; World Campus.
6. Skinner, B. F. (n.d.) A brief survey of operant behavior. Retrieved January 26, 2010, from Website: http://www.bfskinner.org/BFSkinner/SurveyOperantBehavior.html
7. https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Pr-Sa/Reinforcement-Theory.html#ixzz63QZA2W