One of the staff members with whom I work is constantly saying that when she was a kid her mother and father used behavioral reprimands and a temporary loss of an activity when problem behavior occurred and it worked really well. The staff member then wonders out loud why these aversive procedures aren’t the way to go because they can quickly decelerate problem behavior.

Punishment can result in rapid deceleration of a behavior. Unfortunately it has a wide number of side effects that are described below. Whenever punishment is applied it does not result in the learner’s best performance. Instead it tends to result in minimal participation. For example, when you get a speeding ticket, the ticket motivates you to go just slightly below or at the speed limit not safely below it. Secondly, you may only obey when you see an officer nearby (in other words punishment promotes limited maintenance and generalization). Punishment models negative behavior for the learner and others in the environment.