Resumen de Skinner e a assimetria entre reforçamento e punição

Marcus Bentes de Carvalho-Neto, Paulo César Morales Mayer

• English

  The cornerstone of the operant theory is the evidence that the responding is affected by its consequences.

  The consequences which increase the probability of responding are termed reinforcing, little divergences are found in what concerns to it. However, when the issue is about decrease in responding, different perspectives are confronted. When discussing the punishment’s underlying mechanisms, Skinner turns to an alternative account, not strictly selectionistic, explaining the suppression of responding through the elicitation of incompatible emotional responses and the negative strengthening of responses that eliminate or reduce the aversive stimulation (be it unconditional or conditional). Additionally, Skinner presents a set of critiques to the use of punishment emphasizing its negative effects. Supposedly, reinforcement wouldn’t have the same problems and, due to it, would be a better alternative for the control of behavior. Reinforcement and punishment, in this sense, would be asymmetric behavior phenomena. In another theoretical perspective it’s stated that while some consequences strengthen the responding, others weaken it, contending a symmetrical relation between both phenomena. Extensive debates and studies concerning this issue have taken place, none has ever defi nitely refuted the other though. The aim of the present essay was to evaluate if Skinner’s characterization of punishment would or not apply to reinforcement, discussing from this perspective the symmetry or asymmetry between the two phenomena. The eight main Skinnerian objections to punishment have been identifi ed and critically examined. It was observed that the eight arguments proposed by Skinner as peculiar to punishment can also be extended to reinforcement, once in both relations: 1) continued exposure to the same events (aversive or reinforcing) produces habituation; 2) the effects over responding are transitory when the contingency is discontinued ; 3) there is elicitation of respondents which can interfere with the occurrence of the response; 4) confl icting relations may emerge when the same stimulus signalize two or more possible consequences (reinforcing or aversive); 5) other responses, not directly subjected to the consequences, are affected (induction); 6) stimuli, present during the history of selection, can acquire conditional functions (aversive or reinforcing); 7) the removal of the consequent stimulus (reinforcer or punisher) produces an automatic relation of control differing only in the direction of the effect (strengthening or suppressing); and 8) there might be an increase in the probability of aggressive responses. Thus, for all the operations and effects presented by Skinner as typical of the punishment (its intrinsic problems) there is also a counterpart in the reinforcement. So, making use of Skinner’s own categorization, it was concluded that these behavior phenomena are symmetrical.

• português

  O comportamento operante é defi nido como aquele que é afetado pelas suas consequências. Poderia se esperar, então, que enquanto alguns eventos ambientais posteriores ao responder teriam função fortalecedora, outras teriam uma função inversa, enfraquecendo-o. Entretanto, Skinner, ao discutir os mecanismos subjacentes ao fenômeno da punição, recorre a um modo explicativo alternativo, não estritamente selecionista.

  Adicionalmente, Skinner apresenta um conjunto de críticas ao uso da punição, enfatizando os seus efeitos negativos. Em tese, o reforçamento não teria os mesmos problemas e por isso seria uma melhor alternativa de controle. Reforçamento e punição seriam, nesse contexto, assimétricos. No presente ensaio foram identifi cadas e examinadas criticamente as oito principais objeções skinnerianas à punição. O objetivo foi avaliar se a caracterização que Skinner faz da punição se aplicaria ou não ao reforçamento, discutindo a partir daí a simetria ou assimetria entre os dois fenômenos. Observou-se que todas as operações e efeitos apresentados como típicos da punição (seus problemas intrínsecos) existiriam também no reforçamento. Portanto, usando a própria caracterização skinneriana, conclui-se que os dois fenômenos comportamentais seriam simétricos.