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How Behavior Develops some important principles Behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences. Behavior ultimately responds better to positive consequences. Whether a behavior has been punished or reinforced is known only by the course of that behavior in the future. Behavior is largely a product of its immediate environment.
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 Read detailed explanations, examples, and role-playing experiences in the parent's manual to raising children in a positive way, The Power of Positive Parenting. |
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| Principle Three |
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Parents tell me repeatedly, "I punish the child for that rotten behavior time and time again everyday and the kid continues to do the same thing!" |
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In light of this principle of human behavior, what is the matter with that analysis of the child's behavior? The answer is simple and clear: The parent isn't punishing the child at all. Rather, the child's behavior is being reinforced. What the parent thinks he or she is doing is one thing but what the parent is really doing is another. |
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The only way one can know what the parent is really doing to the behavior is by observing what happens to the behavior subsequently. If the behavior persists, no matter what the parent thinks he or she has done to it, the behavior has been reinforced. Punishment has not occurred in the least. Rather, the behavior has been strengthened, and a behavior that has been strengthened is a behavior that will probably reoccur. Conversely, if the behavior gets weaker, or stops, then it has been punished. |
| The lesson for parents to learn from this is that they must carefully observe the course of their children's behavior over time. If inappropriate behavior persists, parents must be prepared to change the way they have been responding to that behavior. If appropriate behavior persists, the parents must be prepared to continue what they are doing. |
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