In this article, we provide both a critical analysis of and logical response to a set of the most typical school-based objections to the effective use of positive reinforcement. For example, one objection is that positive reinforcement amounts to bribery. Practitioners are provided with clear and concise arguments refuting each objection and…

Reflective writing tasks are commonly employed across higher education programmes, yet despite their use, they are often accompanied by concerns that students simply performance manage by constructing positive accounts of their practice in their reflections. To address this, students are encouraged to be 'honest' in their reflections based on the…

Schools implementing Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are often confronted with concerns from a variety of educational stakeholders about school climate, teaching behavioral expectations, the role of reinforcement, and labeling students. Administrators should be prepared to respond to these concerns with theoretical and…

In society, expertise bestows directive power--the authority to tell others what to do and how to do it, or simply to do it for them. In a school system that still operates on an authoritarian model, the author's expertise as a writer and teacher gives her directive prerogative when responding to student writing. Traditionally, teachers have used…

This paper provides a review of behavioral models of depression highlighting the problems associated with its historical emphasis on lowered frequencies of positive reinforcement. We analyzed the models of Ferster and Lewinsohn in their theoretical approach, methodology and application. We conducted a review of the suppressive characteristics…

A report calling for a top-to-bottom overhaul of the U.S. education and training system to help Americans compete in a global economy drew lavish praise and sharp criticism, foreshadowing what a heavy political lift its recommendations would likely be to carry out. Titled "Tough Choices or Tough Times," the report was unveiled at an all-day…

Michael (1975) reviewed efforts to classify reinforcing events in terms of whether stimuli are added (positive reinforcement) or removed (negative reinforcement). He concluded that distinctions in these terms are confusing and ambiguous. Of necessity, adding a stimulus requires its previous absence and removing a stimulus its previous presence.…