Now that we clarified the difference between reinforcers and punishments, their effects, and when to use the popularly called “carrot” and when the “stick” in the previous article, below we bring you a set of short rules for their application.
Behavior change
Consistency and quantity
The first and most important rule is not to use reinforcers too frequently. If you do it too often, they will lose their meaning and you will not achieve the desired effects. If you want to strengthen a specific behavior, make sure the reinforcements are given at irregular intervals.
If you reinforce every single time, once you stop doing it, the behavior will eventually fade away. Think back to when you were little—did your mother reward you with ice cream or something similar every single time you cleaned your room? Probably the first time she didn’t give you a reward, you no longer had the motivation to keep cleaning your room regularly. It is the same in sports. Therefore, reinforcement should be occasional so that athletes do not know when it will follow. Additionally, you do not want to constantly praise something that is already taken for granted as normal behavior.
For example, you had a problem with athletes being late at the beginning of the season. You used punishments and reinforcements. Once most players are arriving on time, it is no longer necessary to praise what has become a standard part of sports behavior. It is similar with not giving up when a mistake occurs. Once the desired behavior becomes established, you then need to look for a higher level to reward.
When it comes to punishments, it is essential to be consistent and not tolerate a specific behavior that you have decided to punish, so that it is linked to an unpleasant consequence as quickly as possible and becomes extinguished. For example, if you do not tolerate athletes being late, agree in advance on a punishment for those who arrive late and stick to it every single time; do not let anyone slip away with such behavior, and make sure that you are not the one who breaks your own rule.
Focus on behavior, not the person
Always punish, praise, or reward a specific BEHAVIOR.
Do not do it on a personal level and tell an athlete that they are lazy, careless, excellent, talented, etc., but rather emphasize which behavior you want to reinforce or punish, and then do so. To repeat, the purpose of reinforcement is to strengthen a behavior, and the purpose of punishment is to eliminate a behavior.
That is why it is also highly important for the reinforcement and punishment to follow immediately after the behavior, rather than being delayed, because it is crucial to create a strong link between the behavior and the punishment or reinforcement. If you stick to personal categories, what kind of message are you sending to the athlete? It is as if you are “sentencing” the athlete to simply being untalented, and implying that quality work and dedication are of no help.
Visibility of reinforcements and punishments
Reinforce publicly in front of everyone, especially if the reinforcements are praise for good work, because by doing so you will show others which behaviors you are satisfied with, what you expect from the rest, and consequently motivate others to behave in that way.
When it comes to punishments, the previous rule of focusing on the behavior and not the person is highly important. If you refer to an undesirable behavior and punish that behavior, then it is preferable to do it publicly so that others can learn from it as well. If your remarks are of a more personal nature, then it is better to have the conversation with the athlete in private.
Get to know the athletes
Most athletes respond better to reinforcements than to punishments, but there are exceptions.
That is why you should get to know your athletes well and learn to recognize what they respond to, and in which situations it is better to apply punishment and in which reinforcement. Of course, take this only as basic guidelines for proper reinforcement and punishment. Every coach finds their own style and way of shaping their athletes’ behavior, depending on the individual differences of the athletes.
Reinforcement and punishment are not as easy and simple as they might seem at first. We hope that we have nevertheless helped you a little, clarified some differences, and provided some guidelines. Remember the most important things: use them occasionally, focus on the behavior, and identify what you want to achieve so that you know what to use.
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