Is it OK to bribe your kids?

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/momentsofmotherhood/is-it-ok-to-bribe-your-kids-2451592/


In my behavior theories and practices class, we are learning that what is reinforcing (the definition is something that results in an increase of the behavior) to one student is NOT reinforcing to another student.  You may find praise to be a reinforcer, you find that you do better work because someone praised you.  I, on the other, may find that praise is a punisher (the definition is something that results in a decrease in the behavior) so I do worse on my homework because praise is not reinforcing to me.

Just to give a possible real-life example to the idea stated above.  Bethany has a social phobia and tries her hardest to get away from any situation that causes attention to be drawn to her.  Therefore, if she does something that you find good, and you praise her, she is more likely to NEVER do that behavior again.  The reason for this is that she wants to escape attention.  The students that a lot of us, special education or general education, will encounter will be the opposite of this.  They want attention.

So I find that it is imperative at this present moment to say that every behavior (no matter how big or how small) has a function.  My definition of a function is any reason that a person engages in a behavior.  What is the function of the behavior of Bethany above?  The function of the behavior is to escape attention.  Owen, in your class, is making animal noises to get attention from the peers.  Nick, the kid you keep seeing bullying others in the hallway, is bullying because it gives him control of one situation.

The question is, why am I talking about functions of behavior and reinforcement differentiation?  I am talking about it because what one gal finds reinforcing in money, another may find money punishing, and another may not even look at money with any idea of reinforcement or punishment.

The idea of rewarding your kids with money is a tough decision.  I have heard time and time again that you can love the thing your doing, but as soon as you are paid, you lose that love.  This is not the case with everyone, I recognize that and acknowledge it, but many have lost their passion as a result of being paid.

There is also the issue of behavior continuity (I came up with that term) which means asking the question: Is the behavior going to continue after you remove the reinforcer...in the case, the money?  If you reward the person every behavior that they have (every A they get they get $10), then when they get an "A" and you don't give them $10, they won't work for an "A" the next time.  This is the toughest thing that I am facing with this class that I am taking, if you reinforce too much, satiation occurs (the reinforcer is no longer reinforcing), if you reinforce to little, the behavior does not change (because the student is not reinforced enough).  However, in the beginning of teaching a behavior, reinforcement for every time they do it is important in order to help them understand what is expected of them.  It is such a fine balance between too much and too little with the the appropriateness continually changing.  In all reality, reinforcement is like a moving target where if you are just a little bit off, you shoot your best friend in the butt.