The trouble with rewards and punishments

The other morning in psychology, we began a general discussion of the theories of behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner (1904-1990). For those who don't know or remember, Dr. Skinner pioneered the practice of operant conditioning, which is, "a form of learning in which an individuals learning is modified by its consequences." This is accomplished by employing a variety of rewards and/or punishments, the specifics of which I can't and won't get into just now (though if you are interested, this is a humorous example).

In any case, the discussion brought forward the idea of rewards and punishments, and how we use them. For example, in school we are often "rewarded" for good behavior, and "punished" for bad behavior. The same is often tried in sports, as well as with our jobs. If you want someone to do or not do something, then you reward or punish it accordingly, right?

Yet what if the picture is more complicated than that? Such was the direction our discussion took next. Consider, if we wished to "reward" a student, how should we do it? Give less homework? Give them a sticker saying "Great Job!"? Offer free-time if class-work is satisfactorily finished early?

These are all ideas I've heard or seen before, and none of them work in all cases. The reason seems to be that a "reward" is not just a thing with a specific, universal value, but also something that's value is determined by "the eye of the beholder." Money might be the closest thing we've yet developed that aspires to universal appeal, but even that is desired more by some people over others. The same might be said of punishments, in that what is punishment to one person might be a reward to another.

Furthermore, some rewards or punishments seem to hold greater value for people at different times. For example, a free dinner might seem awesome for a starving person, but absolute torture for someone just finishing the last course of a long, fancy meal. In another case, a D- might be reward for someone trying to pass a class, but a disaster if they're trying to get an A.

In short then, rewards and punishments seem to be relative to different people at different times. I can imagine this might render policy-making difficult, because it may be impossible to please or deter everyone from a specific behavior or activity. Something to think about maybe.

Happy Wednesday, friends :)