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Positive Reinforcement According To Heffner Essay

One has to wonder how much positive reinforcement will only be reinforcing the sense of entitlement they have received from their parents vs. The hard work and responsibility required to succeed in business. Even Skinner, the researcher who articulated the major theoretical constructs of reinforcement and who was a strong advocate of positive reinforcement, recognized the possibility to encourage negative behavior with positive reinforcement. On this matter, he said, "The same mistake is made by the teacher who offers a treat of some kind when the class is getting out of hand. If this behavior is a kind of aggression toward the teacher, the treat may have an opposing effect. But in the long run, the reinforcement of misbehavior will offset any gain. Unfortunately, the reduction in aggression is immediate but the effect of reinforcement apparent only later. Hence, the practice may be continued, even though in the long run misbehavior becomes even more serious" (Skinner, 1980, 83). Still, research has found positive reinforcement is the most powerful of any other type of reinforcement...

but, their must be a strategy in place to prevent entitlement (Tomko, 2002). Specifically, Tomko wisely advises that the culture of an organization has to promote accountability with education, training and development that incorporate company objectives.
And, Tomko recommends well-defined performance measures to avoid the dynamic of employees feeling entitled to their particular job or to a particular promotion as well as information sharing so that everyone is working with facts instead of erroneous assumptions.

Bibliography

Heffner, C.L. (2001, April 1). Psychology 101. http://allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html

Skinner, B.F. (1980). Notebooks. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

The 'trophy kids' go to work (2008, October 21). The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122455219391652725.html

Tomko, C.W. (2002, June 14). Set strategy to overcome staff entitlement attitude. Columbus Business First. http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2002/06/17/focus5.html

Sources used in this document:
Bibliography

Heffner, C.L. (2001, April 1). Psychology 101. http://allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html

Skinner, B.F. (1980). Notebooks. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

The 'trophy kids' go to work (2008, October 21). The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122455219391652725.html

Tomko, C.W. (2002, June 14). Set strategy to overcome staff entitlement attitude. Columbus Business First. http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2002/06/17/focus5.html
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