Research Reinforcement: The Psychology of Behaviour Change
The study of reinforcement in psychology finds its roots in the early 20th-century work of foundational behaviourists such as Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and Rosalie Rayner. These pioneering researchers laid the groundwork for understanding how behaviours are acquired and modified through interaction with the environment. Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments with dogs revealed that behaviours could be learned through the association of stimuli—a discovery that revolutionised our understanding of learning. Similarly, Watson and Rayner’s infamous “Little Albert” experiment demonstrated how emotional responses such as fear could be conditioned in humans, suggesting that even complex behaviours were not immune to the influence of environmental reinforcement.
Building upon these foundations, psychologists began to explore how deliberate reinforcement—through rewards or punishments—could be used to encourage or discourage behaviours. This led to the development of a more systematic approach known as operant conditioning, championed by B.F. Skinner. However, even before Skinner’s contributions became prominent, the essential mechanisms of reinforcement were being shaped by studies rooted in behaviourism.
Positive Reinforcement in Psychology
Positive reinforcement refers to the process of increasing the likelihood of a behaviour by following it with a rewarding stimulus. When a desirable outcome follows a particular action, individuals are more likely to repeat that action in the future. This principle has found widespread application across educational, therapeutic, and organisational settings. For example, teachers often use praise or rewards to encourage student participation, while therapists may use token economies to reinforce adaptive behaviours in clients with developmental disorders.
The effectiveness of positive reinforcement lies in its ability to create associations between the behaviour and a positive consequence. The more immediate and consistent the reward, the stronger the behavioural pattern becomes. As such, reinforcement has proven a cornerstone in the successful modification of behaviours, especially when trying to instil new, healthier habits.
Pairing Negative Stimuli with Unwanted Behaviour: Aversion Therapy
While positive reinforcement strengthens desired behaviours, another powerful technique in the behavioural psychologist’s toolkit is the use of negative stimuli to weaken or eliminate maladaptive behaviours. This approach is often termed aversion therapy, or covert sensitization, and involves the deliberate pairing of an unwanted behaviour with an unpleasant or uncomfortable stimulus to create a conditioned aversion.
A key example in the literature is the 2005 study by Kraft and Kraft, who employed a form of aversion therapy known as covert sensitization. In their paper, they helped individuals struggling with smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and overeating by guiding them through mental imagery exercises. During these exercises, patients were asked to vividly imagine engaging in the unwanted behaviour—such as smoking a cigarette—followed by a negative or repulsive outcome, such as vomiting or experiencing intense nausea. This mental pairing served to create an internalised aversion to the behaviour, reducing the urge to engage in it.
The Kraft and Kraft study (2005) was pivotal, not only because it provided empirical support for covert sensitization as a viable therapeutic method, but also because it marked a significant shift in how mental imagery could be harnessed in behavioural change. The technique bypassed the need for physical aversive stimuli, relying instead on the client’s imagination to achieve similar results—a notable innovation in aversion therapy.
Conclusion
The concept of reinforcement, rooted in the early experiments of Pavlov, Watson, and Rayner, has grown into a sophisticated framework for understanding and influencing behaviour. Whether through the encouragement of positive behaviours via rewards or the discouragement of maladaptive ones through aversive conditioning, reinforcement remains central to many psychological interventions. Studies such as Kraft and Kraft’s continue to underscore the value of behavioural techniques in addressing some of the most challenging aspects of human behaviour, reminding us that change—though complex—is often within reach through the careful application of psychological principles.
David Kraft PhD
Former President, Section of Hypnosis & Psychosomatic Medicine, Royal Society of Medicine
Registered UKCP Psychotherapist
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