The Power of Reinforcement

Stephen Ray Flora

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780791459164, 9780791459157
• eBook ISBN: 9780791485989
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Educational Psychology
• Index: Social Sciences

Makes the controversial argument that reinforcement is a real and valuable force in human behavior.

2004 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title

According to Stephen Ray Flora, reinforcement is a very powerful tool for improving the human condition despite often being dismissed as regarding people as less than human and as "overly simplistic." This book addresses and defends the use of reinforcement principles against a wide variety of attacks. Countering the myths, criticisms, and misrepresentations of reinforcement, including false claims that reinforcement is "rat psychology, " the author shows that building reinforcement theory on basic laboratory research is a strength, not a weakness, and allows unlimited applications to human situations as it promotes well-being and productivity. Also examined are reinforcement contingencies, planned or accidental, as they shape behavioral patterns and repertoires in a positive way.

Table of contents

• THE POWER OF REINFORCEMENT
• CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• Part I: MYTHS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS OF REINFORCEMENT
• Part II: FOR BETTER OR WORSE. IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH: Reinforcement in Action
• REFERENCES
• APPENDIX 1: The Selection of Behavior
• APPENDIX 2: Basic Terms
• NAME INDEX
• SUBJECT INDEX