By Hollis Wormsby, Jr.
Operant learning theory has been one of the foundational beliefs of my life. I first learned of operant learning theory in an organizational behavior class I was required to take while I was in Engineering School at the University of Wisconsin. Operant learning theory expresses the belief that discipline and organizational behavior are centered around a stimulus, organism, response model. Under this model the behavior modification can be achieved by either negative or positive feedback, but the model claims that using negative feedback may achieve the desired purpose, but it may also trigger other unpredicted and potentially uncontrollable responses as well. The desired method of organizational behavioral change in the operant theory model is through the use of positive feedback. According to the theory when using positive feedback one can achieve the desired organizational behavior changes without generating the unpredictable and undesired behaviors.
In applying this theory to individual human behavior, operant learning theory would argue that positive reinforcement, as in reward for good behavior, is more effective than using punishment to deter bad behavior, and in organizational settings, likely including the one you are working in, there is an effort to set up a system of rewards and incentives to encourage good behavior and for the most part the use of punishment is rare, though not unprecedented.
I believe that operant learning theory can be a useful tool in creating a discipline system for our children. I have noted over the years that as a person who had the living sh-t beaten out of him a child, I was firmly resolved that I would not raise my own children that way. There are some who would equate saying that you would be hesitant to use corporal punishment as a form of discipline, with saying that you don’t believe in discipline. That is not what I am saying here. What I am saying is that we have learned over time, in the corporate world, that punishment is not the way to get the desired results, so I believe this is also true with our children.
When I was a child I was required to do certain chores on an almost daily basis. If I did not do those chores or if I did not do them well enough, my dad would take a leather belt, and beat the crap out of me, no matter how trivial the chore. This would be called use of negative feedback or punishment. And yes it did make me more inclined to do the chores I was supposed to do, but it also left me feeling hurt and brutalized and like I did not want to be a part of anything.
Under operant learning theory, instead of beating a child for not doing a chore or for some unwanted deviation in behavior, we would set up a system of rewards for that child for doing the chores or exhibiting the behavior we desire. An example of this type of system would be where you tell your child, it is your responsibility to empty the garbage cans inside every night and to take the garbage around to the alley on garbage days. If you do this without supervision it will be worth blank dollars (you decide the number) a week, which I will pay you each Saturday that you complete the chore without being told. Now there is something else I have learned you must do in order for this type of system to be effective. The child has to have a need that they can only address if they earn their positive reinforcement points. What I mean by the last point is if you are already giving your child everything they want without question, it will be hard to motivate them with simply a few dollars more. So, a part of this system involves evaluating what each child’s wants and needs are and setting up a system of points and rewards where they have to earn the things they want, by exhibiting the behaviors that you desire. Does this mean that I think that corporal punishment should never be used, the answer to that is a reluctant no. But it does mean that I think you should focus your discipline on a positive feedback model, with a very occasional butt whipping, as the personal nuclear option that you try hard not to use.
Or at least that’s the way I see it.
Hollis Wormsby has served as a featured columnist for the Birmingham Times for more than 29 years. He is the former host of Talkback on 98.7 KISS FM and of Real Talk on WAGG AM. If you would like to comment on this column you can email him at hjwormsby@aol.com.
