Hello from Sin City
My husband and I are losing our money in Las Vegas this week. I've been playing "video black-jack" much to the amusement of other gamblers around me. I can't stop talking to the machine!

Anyway, the science of reinforcement theory is really evident out here. You bet $3, you get $2 back...and you THINK you've won something. See, whether a consequence to a given behavior is considered reinforcement or punishment is all about whether the behavior continues or not. If you keep putting dollars in the machine, the fact that you actually LOST money is irrelevant; the "gambling" behavior has been maintained and, therefore, reinforced not punished.

When we work with kids, too often we design consequences based upon our view of whether the kid should or shouldn't like something. In actuality, it's all about how the kiddo perceives the consequence. So, when making up behavior contracts or other behavior plans intended to increase or decrease a behavior, the proof is what happens in the future, not what we think should happen. In other words, Einstein was right. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a DIFFERENT outcome."

Later...
t