Editing Punishment (section)

===In psychology===
{{Main|Punishment (psychology)}}
Introduced by [[B.F. Skinner]], punishment has a more restrictive and technical definition in psychology.  Along with [[reinforcement]], it belongs under the [[operant conditioning]] category.  Operant conditioning refers to learning with either punishment that discourages the measured behavior, or a reward that encourages the behavior.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=W, J.C|first=Furman, Masters|date=1980|title=Affective consequences of social reinforcement, punishment, and neutral behavior.|journal=Developmental Psychology|volume=16|issue=2|pages=100–104|doi=10.1037/0012-1649.16.2.100}}</ref>

In psychology, punishment is the reduction of a behavior via application of an unpleasant stimulus ("''positive'' punishment") or removal of a pleasant stimulus ("''negative'' punishment"). Extra chores or [[spanking]] are examples of positive punishment, while [[Grounding (discipline technique)|grounding]] a teenager or removing [[screen time]] privileges are examples of negative punishment.

The definition requires that punishment is only determined after the fact by the reduction in behavior; if the offending behavior of the subject does not decrease, it is not considered punishment. In operant conditioning terms, punishment does not need to involve any type of pain, fear, or physical actions; even a brief spoken expression of disapproval, or calmly telling a student that they answered a question incorrectly, is a type of punishment, if the result is a decrease in the behavior (e.g., a decrease in giving that wrong answer to that question).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Leaf |first=Justin B. |last2=Cihon |first2=Joseph H. |last3=Leaf |first3=Ronald |last4=McEachin |first4=John |last5=Liu |first5=Nicholas |last6=Russell |first6=Noah |last7=Unumb |first7=Lorri |last8=Shapiro |first8=Sydney |last9=Khosrowshahi |first9=Dara |date=June 2022 |title=Concerns About ABA-Based Intervention: An Evaluation and Recommendations |url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9114057/ |journal=Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |volume=52 |issue=6 |pages=2838–2853 |doi=10.1007/s10803-021-05137-y |issn=1573-3432 |pmc=9114057 |pmid=34132968 |quote=Punishment, from a behavior analytic perspective, describes any context in which a response is followed by an event (i.e., stimulus change) that results in a decrease in the probability of similar responses in similar situations.... Absent from this definition are things like pain, fear, discomfort, and the like. Suppose a person parks their car taking up two spaces and a passerby comments, “That’s inconsiderate.” If the probability of taking up two spaces while parking subsequently decreases, we can reasonably presume that punishment occurred.}}</ref> There is some [[conflation]] of punishment and [[aversives]], though an aversion that does not decrease behavior is not considered punishment in psychology.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=I|first=Lorge|date=1933|title=The effect of the initial chances for right responses upon the efficacy of intensified reward and of intensified punishment.|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology|volume=16|issue=3|pages=362–373|doi=10.1037/h0070228}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Church|first=R.M.|date=1963|title=The varied effects of punishment on behavior|journal=Psychological Review|volume=70|issue=5|pages=369–402|doi=10.1037/h0046499|pmid=14049776}}</ref> Additionally, "aversive stimulus" is a label behaviorists generally apply to negative reinforcers (as in [[avoidance learning]]), rather than the punishers.