A Page From B.F Skinners’ “Walden 2”. Are You Sure About Those Qudrants?

Skinner wrote Walden 2 in response to people calling him a dictator etc for his ideas. Skinner dream was to have society based on Positive Reinforcement – not Reward and Punishment. Skinner created the term punishment back in the late 30’s – and he used it interchangeably with Negative Reinforcement. They both mean the same – so when trainers talk about “it’s only negative reinforcement”?

Operant conditioning is about the consequences of the choices that you make in interacting with the environment around you. If your child reaches out and touches a hot stove, the negative consequence of a burn is the reinforcer that shapes the childs operant conditioning. Something in the environment operantly conditioned the child to avoid because of a negative consequence. They learn to avoid the hot stove due to that negative consequence. But if you have a good consequence from a choice – you’ll likely want to do it again. That’s your positive reinforcements – your desires – what motivates you. It’s no different from your dog – but it has to be looked at through your dogs eyes – your dogs point of view. All this can’t be looked at from your eyes – or a trainers.

One page from B.F Skinners book “Walden 2” explains positive and negative reinforcement beautifully. It’s attached below. Just going to take excerpts – but do read the page – especially his views on punishment.

“Other things we like, we want them to happen, we take steps make them happen again.” That’s YOUR positive reinforcement from YOUR point of view. Positive reinforcement is a desire that all animals have. It’s not a tool you apply, it’s not something you use on an animal.

Negative reinforcement – positive reinforcement. Fear and desire.

Other things we don’t like – we don’t want them to happen and we take steps to get rid of them. Negative reinforcements. Meet one dark side of positive reinforcement – it’s also the actions you take to remove the negative reinforcements – the things you don’t desire in your life. A state of calm is a positive reinforcement – all negatives removed – nothing in the environment to be concerned about. Some people love to curl up in hot bath with a glass of wine and a good book. That’s your positive reinforcement. I can give you a hundred examples of positive reinforcement and none include adding things or have treat.

What do we do in the face of a negative reinforcement? You fight, you flight or you become indifferent. If you are scared of spiders, then spiders are a negative reinforcement to you. You’ll either fight, kill the spider or throw it outdoors – that’s your positive reinforcement. You can flight – run away from the spider, remove yourself from the negative reinforcement. that’s your positive reinforcement.

“To some things we are indifferent”. Indifferent is called socialized – you made it “not a big deal”. Overcoming fear is becoming indifferent to thing you were scared of, you became socialized to it. And that is the biggest reward you can get. Remember learning to drive a car? Huge negative reinforcement, but at some point, it becomes not a big deal. Someone hit me head on in my car years ago, and driving became a negative reinforcement again for a while.

As humans, when we meet something new in the environment, we can generally rationalise if it’s something to be concerned about – do I need to be afraid? Yeah, that’s not your dog – they don’t rationalise that way, they are very honest about their emotions.

Yes, it is that easy. When you understand Positive Reinforcement – and look at it from your dogs stand point of view. That’s when things change. I always push people to be calm – calm is a positive reinforcement. If your dog is freaking out, be calm – be the change you want in your dog. Your dog at some point has to calm down. I find it funny, some dogs realize that they are the only ones freaking out and they stop right away. Your dog will always choose positive reinforcement over negative. So be positive.

Always put the onus on the dog to make a choice so they can change their operant condition on their own. When they get positive consequences of their choices – they are going to want to keep doing it. If you’re using treats or punishers – the dog isn’t doing becuase of their choice. You’re expecting the dog to accept your choices.

You’ll see Skinners’ views on punishment if you read the entire page. Skinner created the term punishment and he used it interchangeably with Negative Reinforcement. Where did the punishment quadrants come from? Cause it wasn’t from Skinner. Skinner defined “Punishment” as the removal of Positive Reinforcement. Think about that – the removal of positive reinforcement.

How would you feel if someone consistently removed everything you desired? I can guarantee – the dog doesn’t like it either. But everything today is control and manage your dog – remove the dogs positive reinforcement. The reality is – you are punishing then rewarding punishment. And that’s what they sell as positive reinforcement.

That spider you are scared of is removing your positive reinforcement – the spider is punishing you – the spider is shaping your behaviour. Your reaction to that spider wasn’t your choice – it’s your body’s response as a result of your operant conditioning.

If your dog is calm at home, but freaks out on a walk then there is something that you need to understand. Your dog at home is in positive reinforcement, the state of calm. By taking that scared dog for a walk, you are removing the dog from it’s positive reinforcement. And you are pushing them through negative reinforcements. And Skinner would call that punishment. Now, by offering up that treat, you are rewarding punishment and worse.

Why isn’t this working? I hear it all the time. Now you know why.