Customer Reviews

The Power of Reinforcement (Alternatives in Psychology) (Suny Series, Alternatives in Psychology)

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The book description for Mr. Flora's book is one of the reasons why we as nation are still struggling to teach our children well. It is baffling that we have the key to unlocking so much human potential, yet we withhold it for fear of some shadowy determinism which we think will run our lives. Reinforcement does not limit an individual, it profides greater competency, which ultimately gives the individual more choice. I feel that everyone will gain from a reading of this book, and it should be required reading for all teachers.

Reinforcement is the most powerful concept in psychology. Understand it and you will have a much better understanding of why people (including yourself) behave as they do. You will also be able to use reinforcement to improve your dealings with others: your children, spouse, parents, coworkers, neighbors, students.

Reinforcement is derived from the law of effect, the idea that the tendency to perform a particular kind of behavior depends on the effects that behavior has had in the past. When the effects or consequences of a behavior strengthen it, we say the behavior has been reinforced.

Reinforcement may seem too simple a concept to justify an entire book, even a fairly short book such as this one. But while the basic concept of reinforcement is simple, its implementation is complicated. That is probably one reason why there are so many misconceptions about it. One of Flora's goals is to correct some of these "myths," such as the idea that reinforcement is synonymous with bribery (it's very different), that it undermines intrinsic motivation (it's more likely to enhance it), that it reduces creativity (it's one of the best ways to increase it). Flora also illustrates how reinforcement has been put to good use in a variety of settings - homes, schools, clinics, hospitals, correctional facilities, etc.

Flora's writing is not as fluid as it might be, but it's far less stuffy and technical than the journals on which it draws, so any college student should be able to read the book without difficulty. Reading it is particularly likely to be beneficial to those for whom managing others is part of their daily work, especially parents, teachers, and company executives. It would also serve well as a text in education and management courses. Read the book, and get the power of reinforcement.

It's hard for me to explain the impact of this book on me. Dr Flora, in a clear, concise fashion, presents a combination of well thought out arguments combined with research based evidence, that he himself has conducted, that make a strong argument. Reinforcement is presented as both the explanation of behavior as well the most powerful tool for shaping that behavior. I am of the opinion that this book should be required for educators, managers, and parents alike. Anyone who is responsible for managing the behaviors of other people need to understand the role that reinforcements play in behavior selection as well as how that role can be used to gain the desired behavior.

This is one of the best books ever written because it explains so clearly the reasons for behavior and how to effectively manipulate any behavior including problem behavior. This book contains the answers for all the problems troubling mankind. Reinforcement is the closest thing to magic that has ever been found in regard to controlling behavior and therefore controlling people. This is very very powerful technology and its clear why so many feared Skinner and his ilk; reinforcement is so effective at solving behavior problems.

The teaching/child abuse industry, the legal pyscho-dope-medical industry, the street dope industry, the political bosses, the assisted living industry, the lawyer industry, the corrections industry, supervisors/slave drivers, junk food industry, nicotine and alcohol industry and all other similar parasites that thrive, prosper and depend upon not people not solving problem behaviors and financially enjoy the misery of hundreds of millions of people with problem behaviors have to hope that the technology of reinforcement will never be properly applied to solve those problem behaviors. If reinforcement is properly applied, those parasites will have to find honest employment or become extinct.

In this book you will find the basic simple answers to any behavioral questions that are troubling you. However be WARNED: If you're one of the many parasites, like a professional punisher a.k.a. public fool system child abuser a.k.a. teacher or principal, you will probably not like the answers to educational behavioral problems contained in this book. You parasites will find out that you are the problem rather than your victims and that your behavior and the behavior of your industry creates and maintains more and more victims. If you are a parasite that wants to give up abusing children, old people, "criminals", family members, friends, neighbors, employees, etc. then congratulations, get this wonderful book and get ready to have the most fun ever by helping yourself and others to solve behavior problems and have a really wonderful life.

If you want broad and long-term success ...

I read this book because some students in my doctoral course in motivation had read it and wanted my reaction. I wrote them an 8-page critique: I'll be briefer here.

Flora's book is well-written and includes ample research (from narrow corners of the field), and his passion for this viewpoint comes through. However, my research focuses on what is effective for the whole child/person in the long run, given our top goals for children/ourselves, and in that respect, using rewards (or punishments) to control behavior is generally very counterproductive.

Flora's arguments fail to hold water for many reasons:

1) He uses many anecdotes where reinforcement was used, and things turned out OK, then he inappropriately assumes credit for the success is due to the reinforcement/reward. In these stories, we cannot know whether the reinforcers had anything to do with the outcome or whether the person would have done even better overall if an approach other than extrinsic rewards were used. Since a great deal of research (see Handbook of Self-Determination Research) indicates that intrinsic and autonomous motivation are superior to extrinsic controls for long-run learning and development, we can expect that overall success would be have been better with a different approach to motivation.

2) Flora never tells the reader about the meta-analyses in which extrinsic rewards that are perceived as controlling consistently undermine individuals' intrinsic motivation. Like any addiction cycle, over time, this loss of intrinsic motivation makes teachers and parents more and more dependent on extrinsic rewards to "motivate" people, and children and employees seem less and less motivated unless rewards are coming. There is nothing natural about this, and the problem is not the people who seem unmotivated under the circumstances, it is the extrinsic rewards that drain their natural motivation and initiative.

3) Flora relies much too much on animal research, and people are quite different than rats in many crucial ways. Also, he also neglects to tell readers that over a half century ago, applied behaviorism (the theory behind using rewards to control people) failed to predict even simple behavior of rats and pigeons and cats, and this is what led psychologists to develop and embrace more powerful theories (Piaget, Vygotsky) ... theories that take seriously people's internal thoughts, emotions, beliefs, values, motives, and culture. Indeed, it turns out the one of the most powerful factors in how individuals respond to teaching or parenting strategies is how they interpret the parent's or teacher's actions. Things as simple as praise may help or hurt depending on whether they are perceived as evaluative and controlling.

4) I teach curriculum year round, but Flora seems blissfully unaware of all the research on the collateral damage caused by test-driven schooling , and far too trusting of test-scores as evidence of the success of an educational method. Yes, kids will cram more facts faster if they are studying for a test with a prize attached, but they forget it faster too, and test-driven education turns kids off to learning, and learning to pass a test or get a prize is a corruption of the true reasons for education: to satisfy your curiosity, for the thrill of mastering something, and to solve real-world problems. Also, much of what is on the tests is trivial content, much of what matters most educationally is not on the tests, and teaching to tests directly undermines many of the goals we value most (creativity, initiative, passion for learning).

5) The book is fixated on what works for one tree in the short run, not on what works best for the whole forest in the long run, and one of the deep general truths of learning and development is that strategies that work the fastest for narrow short-term behaviors/outcomes are often precisely the things that are counterproductive in the long run. Yes, you can lose weight this week with the fad diet, or get your kids to shut up by yelling at them, or make kids cram more facts faster this week with a powerful enough reward. Then you can tell yourself "it worked," but all these short-term strategies set in motion the seeds of their own long-term failure.

Even when kids learning in a traditional education/direct instruction/rewards program have slightly better scores on tests of low-level knowledge and skills, kids from progressive, constructivist, learning-from-life educational programs generally show vastly better understanding and ability to apply what they learned to real-world problem-solving. We get fooled about the effectiveness of rewards, controls, and direct instruction when we assume that test scores (a.k.a. "student achievement") are the real goal of education--for the goals we value most, progressive education with substantial student freedom and child-initiated learning (and without extrinsic rewards) is superior in the long run.

Also, in the long run, consistent use of rewards undermines people's initiative, creativity, and natural motivation (to learn, help others, do the right thing). Extrinsic controls interfere with fully internalizing values, are associated with a materialistic mindset in adulthood, and in turn, fixation on extrinsic goals is associated with poorer mental health. Motivation comes in many forms, and extrinsic motivation where people feel controlled is generally unhealthy.

6) The studies Flora cites have no plausible comparison group--where one group of kids or adults learned in a way where intrinsic motivation and internalized self-regulation were supported, and that group was compared to the group receiving systematic rewards. Most studies he cites compare garden variety education/parenting with unsystematic rewards to a group receiving systematic rewards. This proves nothing.

7) Flora defines the idea of "reinforcement" so broadly that he counts as evidence for rewards some studies (e.g., classic parenting research) in which there is no evidence rewards were being used systematically at all.

Extrinsic rewards do seem essential when we have the wrong goals or expectations for children or adults, when we misunderstand learning and development, when we offer boring cookie-cutter curriculum, when we fixate on immediate compliance or performance rather than long-term growth, or when we view working with others as a power struggle to be won or lost.

To offer my own anecdotes, I have successfully taught children from preschool through school-age children, teens and adults, raised and homeschooled two children and run a residential summer camp program without using extrinsic rewards at all. Create the right environment, and rewards are simply not necessary. Kids need caring, responsive adults who provide feedback, guidance, and coaching, but not extrinsic rewards. To be fair, adults who have never tried to do without extrinsic controls never get to see what children and other adults are capable of when we support and guide them but don't try to control them. There's a whole wonderful world waiting out there for you!

More important than my anecdotes, research on education, parenting, health, and management consistently show that, in comparison with authoritarian control and extrinsic rewards, relying on democracy, freedom, and supporting intrinsic motivation and autonomous self-regulation is consistently superior in the long run for the goals we value most. We are not here to manipulate others: Focusing on autonomy fits American values better.

Yes, reinforcement is dangerously powerful--it has the power to seduce us onto the wrong path for our long-term success and happiness.

People interested in readable but research-based books that take a big-picture perspective on motivation could try Deci's "Why We Do What We Do;" Kohn's "Punished By Rewards" or "No Contest: The Case against Competition;" Daniel Pink's "Drive;" or, for a more in-depth academic treatment of motivation, try "The Handbook of Self-Determination Research."