Bringing Out the Best in People: How to Apply the Astonishing Power of Positive Reinforcement, Third Edition, 3rd Edition

8

Decreasing Behavior—Intentionally or Otherwise

By now you know that if behaviors are occurring, there must be some reinforcement for them somewhere in the environment. No reinforcement equals no behavior. And you have known for a long time that the behavior that occurs is not always the behavior that you want. I have spent the last two chapters writing about how to increase and even maximize behavior. I will spend this chapter writing about how to reduce or even stop behavior.

I described the consequences that stop or reduce behavior briefly in Chapter 4. They are referred to as punishment and penalty. As with all four consequences, when applied appropriately, they do work. Obviously, you would like to be able to stop behavior that you don’t ...