Positive and Negative Reinforcement

Positive and Negative Reinforcement

Personal Experience

• Playing the cello: Conductor placing me in first chair after improvement in performance (positive)
• Placing my bow on a different area of the string to produce a richer sound, i.e. taking away the "scratching sound" (negative)

Aubrey Kennedy

Coaching

• Decides: When to give extrinsic feedback and what type of feedback (positive or negative)
• Examples:
• Allowing an athlete to play first string after demonstrating improved skill (positive)
• Remaining silent after telling an athlete what he or she was doing wrong (negative)

Positive or Negative Reinforcement?

• Research shows that positive reinforcement is more effective because a clearer message is conveyed and the performer is encouraged to repeat his or her actions in the future
• Negative reinforcement can be difficult to interpret

Why is Reinforcement Important?

Negative Reinforcement

• Positive and negative feedback a person receives will influence later choices

• Example: You leave home early to get to your destination and avoid heavy traffic
• Each morning you choose to leave early to continue to avoid heavy traffic Negative Reinforcement

• An event following a response that removes an aversive condition and increases the likelihood that the performer will repeat the response again under similar circumstances

• Can be verbal or nonverbal

• Not the same as punishment, which seeks to prevent an action from being produced again

• Example: Coach stops criticizing the athlete after the action the coach is seeking is performed

• Example 2: You go above and beyond in your assignment and receive bonus points
• On future assignments you put forth extra effort

Positive Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement

Intermittent Reinforcement

• An event following a response that increases the likelihood that the performer will repeat the response again under similar circumstances

• Can be verbal or nonverbal

• Similar to a reward

• Example:
• Verbal praise such as "good job" from a coach after the desired behavior has been performed

• Feedback that is only given occasionally
• Found to be more effective participants who receive intermittent reinforcement continue to perform at higher levels when reinforcement is taken away
• Less dependency on reinforcement to perform well

• Fading procedure: Gradually reduce the frequency with which a coach provides reinforcing feedback

Determining Whether to Give Feedback

• Two factors for a practitioner to consider:

1. Complexity of the task

2. Experience of the learner

• The more complex the skill and less experienced the learner, the more extrinsic feedback is relied upon

• Practitioner should allow the learner to search for sensory information (intrinsic feedback) and discover the person-task-environment relationship before providing extrinsic feedback