The Performance Principle by Mackenzie Kyle

Author:Mackenzie Kyle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Figure 1 Publishing
Published: 2016-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

People were looking a little baffled when I turned back to the group.

“Another P? In what universe does the word extinction start with a P? Amanda asked. “I’m confused.”

“Extinction is the removal of a positive consequence, or reward, in order to decrease a behavior,” I explained. “That isn’t as intuitive as the whole punishment and reward scheme, but it’s a really important part of understanding why people do what they do. We may be rewarding behaviors we don’t want in some situations, without even being aware of it.

“According to our trusty consultant, while the first ‘P’ stands for ‘punishment,’ the second ‘P’ with the minus sign is supposed to be a mnemonic for ‘positive rewards reduced.’ I’m told this is also the standard terminology for it. We can make it an ‘E’ later if you want. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what letter we use, so long as we all have the same understanding about what it means.”

Amanda shook her head. “Let’s leave it for now, if that’s the normal way to show it. But I do find it a little confusing.”

I nodded. “Fair enough. If we start having problems with the ‘P’ minus, we’ll change it.”

“All this talk about the letter P has been working on my subconscious,” Luigi said. “How about we take a little break so I can take care of that problem?” There were chuckles around the room as everyone stretched, pulled out cell phones, and made their way out to use the facilities. I took the opportunity to zip down to the lunchroom and buy some more doughnuts from the vending machine. Five minutes quickly became fifteen, and I finally had to chase people down to get them back to the boardroom.

“So, as I said before the break, there is one more thing to talk about. But before we do that, let’s do a quick review, shall we, class?” No one seemed to find my professorial tone particularly amusing. “Consequences drive behavior. Positive consequences or rewards for a behavior — what we’re calling reinforcement — increase the occurrence of a behavior. A negative consequence, or punishment as we’re calling it, will decrease the occurrence of a behavior. Another way to decrease the occurrence of a behavior is to remove the reward for it, and we call this extinction.” I watched the faces around the room, and then did my best impression of Don Henley. “Are you with me so far?” No one understood my clever Eagles reference, but I pushed on, undeterred.

“We’re ready for the final concept and this is the one that’s most confusing to me, probably because of the name: negative reinforcement.”

“Isn’t that just the same thing as punishment?” Alice asked.

“That’s the confusing thing,” I said. “It sounds like punishment. But negative reinforcement is actually a situation in which people avoid an unpleasant consequence by engaging in a certain behavior.”

Sheila laughed. “You’re describing my childhood! Everything I did as a kid seemed to revolve around not getting punished. Doing well at school, being quiet

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