Miura AngPSY 101 JD – Summer 2016Paper 1 Operant Conditioning – Positive PunishmentEver since young, my parents have always been strict when it comes todisciplining me. And I, as a form of rebellion, have always tried to defy my parents inevery way possible. I would drive my parents up the wall especially when I go outwith my friends arrive home late, way past my curfew time. Growing up in a strict environment is both a blessing and a curse. Throughoutmy childhood up till early adolescence, I viewed it as a curse as I was constantlybeing reprimanded and nagged at. I never understood why they were being so harshand unreasonable all the time. But as I grew up and matured, I began to understandmy parents’ style of parenting. I realized that my parents’ strict parenting has paid off,I had grown up to be a sensible and disciplined young lady. Unlike most of my peers,I may have had to grow up in a tough and strict environment, but I have come tounderstand why my parents had done what they did. They had wanted to see me growup into a person with good character and personality, nurturing and cultivating goodhabits and manners while eliminating bad behavior. Throughout my life, I have had many experiences with operant conditioning,the use of positive and negative consequences to elicit a desired and voluntarybehavior. One good example of operant conditioning would be how my parents wouldground me for a week if I reached home past my curfew. This example is a form ofpositive punishment as I experienced the loss of freedom taken away from me whenmy parents grounded me. I was not able to go out with my friends, let alone go outwith my cousins for a whole week. Unlike classical conditioning that is defined aslearned behavior that generates an involuntary response to a conditioned stimulus,operant conditioning is the association an organism or individual makes between aparticular behavior and its results (consequences). This example is a form of operantconditioning as there is a target behavior that is for me to arrive home before curfew.And if the target behavior was not met, a positive consequence was presented whichwould be my parents grounding me for a week. Positive punishment infers theaddition of something unpleasant or unfavorable after an undesired behavior occurs. Freedom is something I value dearly. I am a rather sociable person who likesto hang out with old friends and meet new ones. Hence taking away my freedom is ahuge deal for me. After my parents enforced this form of operant conditioning andgetting grounded three times, I had learned to arrive home before my curfew toprevent any further positive punishments, in this case, getting grounded. I experiencedthis form of operant conditioning on a continuous fixed-ratio (1:1) schedule as apositive consequence was delivered every single time the target behavior was not met.I have come to realize that parenting is no easy task. At times, your child canhate you when you punish him or her to enforce good habits, manners or behavior.One can only wish that in the long run, when your child grows up, he or she willappreciate all that you have done and sacrificed for