The Wellbeing Page

Reinforcement vs Bribery

What is reinforcement?

Reinforcement is a system of earning a pre-plannedincentive for desired behaviour. Reinforcement, when used correctly, will help to increase the desired behaviour in the future and creates a lasting change. It supports a child to move from compliant behaviours into intrinsically motivated, desirable behaviours. Reinforcement is delivered alongside behaviour specific praise and is immediate. 

Example scenario- encouraging a child to tidy their room using a pre-planned sticker chart:

That was such great tidying up of your room! You treated the books with care by closing them gently and placing them back on your bookcase, and your bed is made ready for you to snuggle into later. You are a helpful and caring person. Let's put a sticker on your chart.

With reinforcement, the adult is in control and will decide when and if the reward has been earned. Reinforcement can be anything from a thumbs up, high five, cuddle, stickers or token board, to a points system leading to a bigger reward. 

Reinforcement must be repeated over time until the desired behaviour is consistent.

What is bribery?

It’s considered a bribe when an adult gives something (reinforcer) to a child inresponseto challenging behaviour. Bribes can be motivating because, in the moment, challenging behaviour may stop or decrease. However, over time the behaviour will return and may even escalate. Bribes are often a reaction by the adult and are delivered in response to frustration of just wanting the challenging behaviour to stop. When using bribes, the child is in control.

Example scenario - telling a child to tidy their with no pre-planned incentive:

Adult: 'Tidy your room.' 

Child: 'No.' Child starts pulling all of their books off their book shelf. 

Adult: 'Stop doing that and you can have an icy pole.' 

The child may stop the challenging behaviour, however, the books will not be put back on the shelf, the room will not have been tidied and the child is learning that undesirable behaviour gets rewarded. 

Overall

Reinforcement and bribery are not the same. Reinforcement is planned ahead, whereas bribery is a negotiation during the occurrence of a challenging behaviour.  

Bribery= an increase in undesirable behaviour

Reinforcement= an increase in desirable behaviours over time.