Questions and Answers Teachers and Parents Ask About Using Reinforcement

Last time I sent out a list of reinforcement ideas.  This week I wanted to follow up with some frequently asked questions regarding the use of rewards and some answers.  The following information was taken from Diana Browning Wright's Behavior Support Plan Desk Reference
 

Q:  Why should I reinforce a child for something they should be doing anyway?

A:  If the student is not doing what should be done, how then are you going to get the student started?  Obviously if the individual is already performing successfully and is finding natural satisfactions, not further rewards are necessary.  If not, rewards may be helpful.  It seems strange that adults sometimes expect a student to work under conditions that the adults themselves would not tolerate.  For many students, doing well now for payment in the distant future (e.g. praise from parents on a report card, getting into college, mastering multiplication, etc.) is too far away to be motivating.  Developing an ability to delay gratification takes maturity and a positive learning history.  

Q:  Why should I have to bribe the student to get them to do what should be done?

A:  There are several points you will need to make:

1. Webster's Dictionary defines "bribe" as accepting remuneration (a reward or payment) for doing something illegal.
2. Would you continue teaching or working at your job if they stopped paying you for it?  What if you were only paid every three years?
3. Do you appreciate receiving positive comments, recognition, a "thank-you" etc.?
4. Rewards should be viewed as a temporary expedient.  As the student starts obtaining natural self-satisfaction, other rewards can be gradually removed as they become unnecessary.  

Q:  Won't the other students in the class become upset and behave negatively if some students are receiving special reinforcers?  (This is the most common concern expressed by teachers at all grade levels)

A:  Because each group is different, there is no single answer or solution to this
question. Surprisingly, more often than not, once a special reinforcement program
has been designed for a single individual, the whole group improves.  Peers appear relieved at times and often cheer the success of their fellow student. It may be that a student’s behavior has been punished so often or reinforced so infrequently that peers are pleased that the individual is now receiving rewards and that
the group is becoming more pleasant.

Sometimes classmates or siblings in a family ask, “How come he or she gets special
privileges?” There are several ways of dealing with this situation. It can be pointed out
that the individual is receiving the reinforcers (special privileges, objects, or activities)
for making progress. It is also possible to invite others to design programs for
themselves in areas in which they feel they need to improve. That is, they can not have
special rewards for doing something they already do well, but they can have special
rewards for higher achievement in something they have not been very successful at
doing. The emphasis is placed on improvement over previous performance. Students
gradually come to understand that the emphasis is not on what one individual is doing in
comparison with what some other individual is doing. Once the adult’s “rule” is
understood by the student to be “all persons are entitled to all of our support to help them improve a necessary skill,” students redefine what is “fair” from “everyone gets exactly the same” to “everyone is equally entitled to special help.” Both teachers and parents with several children can assist this shift by either offering group discussions on the concepts or by conducting personalized conferences with any student who expresses concern.