Our eight-month-old is fascinated with our dog. Curly, an eighty-pound lab/pit mix, is not so fascinated with the kid. The kid grabs his license tags and yanks on his collar, and Curly can’t do a thing – even licking his face draws a howl and a stern “No!” So Curly has to sit quietly (with obvious, ostentatious, and possibly feigned patience). Today, Curly discovered negative reinforcement. Aidan reached for the tags, and Curly stuck out his tongue. Aidan grabbed the tags, and Curly licked his face. We rebuked the dog, but we also rebuked Aidan, and told him that actions have their consequences. Aidan, of course, didn’t understand a word, but Curly looked sorry… until he did it again. This time, he looked calculating.
“Aidan, Curly, we rebuke thee!” G
smartass psych-minor speaking Actually, ‘negative reinforcement’ is the withdrawal of a positive reinforcement. What Curly actually discovered is ‘adversive conditioning’. It’s a common error.smartass psych-minor off
Good for Curly. Hopefully, Aidan will catch on.