Question

Subject: Business Negotiations

What is the Reinforcement Principle?

What are simple things to remember in the reinforcement principle?

Give an example of how you would use the reinforcement principle.

Answer 1

The Reinforcement Principle holds that as an employer you can influence and change the behavior of employees by reinforcement, punishment or extinction. To encourage the behavior you would like to see in your organization rewards are awarded and for prevention of undesirable behaviors punishment is meted out.To stop a learned behavior from continuing in the work place extinction is done. When a manager applies reinforcement, punishment or extinction the process is referred to as ope-rant condition.

The most effective way to teach a person or animal a new behavior is with positive reinforcement. In positive reinforcement, a desirable stimulus is added to increase a behavior. For example, you tell your five-year-old son, Jerome, that if he cleans his room, he will get a toy. Jerome quickly cleans his room because he wants a new art set. Let’s pause for a moment. Some people might say, “Why should I reward my child for doing what is expected?” But in fact we are constantly and consistently rewarded in our lives. Our paychecks are rewards, as are high grades and acceptance into our preferred school. Being praised for doing a good job and for passing a driver’s test is also a reward. Positive reinforcement as a learning tool is extremely effective. Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior, and punishment means you are decreasing a behavior. Reinforcement can be positive or negative, and punishment can also be positive or negative. All reinforcers (positive or negative) increase the likelihood of a behavioral response. All punishers (positive or negative) decrease the likelihood of a behavioral response. Now let’s combine these four terms: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment