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Chapter 14: Problem 7

Give some examples of poorly designed contingencies of reinforcement that are common in our society.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Poorly designed contingencies of reinforcement in society could include rewarding good behavior with unhealthy foods, excessive issuance of speeding tickets, giving out participation rewards to everyone in a competition, and educational policies that encourage teaching to the test.

Step by step solution

01

Identifying Poorly Designed Contingencies

Starting with the definition, contingencies of reinforcement are the relationships between a behavior and the consequences of that behavior. In poorly designed contingences, the reinforcement often encourages the opposite behavior of what was intended.
02

Example 1: Junk Food Rewards

Coming to our first example, schools and parents sometimes reward children with junk food for good behavior or performance. This, however, encourages unhealthy eating habits.
03

Example 2: Speeding Tickets

Consider the incidence of speeding tickets, a punishment intended to enforce safe driving habits. Yet, an overemphasis on quotas may lead officers to issue tickets excessively, causing resentment among drivers and not really decreasing the rate of speeding.
04

Example 3: Excessive Participation Rewards

Another example, in some school or amateur sports events, every participant receives a reward regardless of performance. This can diminish the value of achievement and reduce the motivation for personal improvement.
05

Example 4: 'No Child Left Behind' Policy

Another example from the education system is the 'No Child Left Behind' policy. This system can inadvertently encourage schools to 'teach to the test', focusing too much on testing metrics and not enough on developing well-rounded students.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

I wish to decide whether to include more or fewer study questions in this chapter. decide that I feel like adding a few questions, and I do. I then claim that this shows I have free will, since I could just as easily have chosen to delete a few questions. (a) How would Skinner reply? (b) Do you agree or disagree with Skinner? Why?

Give an example from real life or from fiction to illustrate each of the following Skinnerian concepts: (a) response shaping, (b) partial reinforcement, (c) stimulus generalization, (d) discrimination, (e) extinction.

Rats in a Skinner box learn by what is called "trial and error": They try out various responses (e.g., rearing up on their hind paws, crouching, moving to the rear of the box) until they hit on the one that produces reinforcement (pressing the bar). Why do some critics regard Skinner's approach as not applicable to many areas of human endeavor?

(a) Explain the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning. (b) Explain the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment. (c) Explain the difference between Freud's concept of repression and Skinner's view of repression.

According to Skinner, emotion is a predisposition to behave in certain ways that is caused by some external event (such as anger over a drawer that is stuck). Can an emotion such as anger be caused by an event within the individual?
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