Punishment: Overview, concerns, and use

Within behavior analysis, punishment has a very different meaning. It refers to any context in which a response is followed by an event (i.e., stimulus change) that results in a decrease in the future probability of similar responses in similar situations. From this perspective, punishment, just like reinforcement, is a naturally occurring principle of behavior. The use of punishment, however, is not without controversy. Within this chapter, we define punishment, discuss some concerns with the implementation of punishment procedures, describe some considerations when implementing punishment, and describe various punishment procedures and research related to those procedures.