It’s aversive to have an incomplete science of behavior

Abstract

From the earliest days of behavioral psychology (e.g., Thorndike, 1911), aversive control — what we now call punishment and negative reinforcement — was recognized as a partner to what we now call positive reinforcement. Although much is controversial about aversive control (Dinsmoor, 2001; Johnston, 1991), one thing is not in doubt: Aversive control is a prominent component of the natural world (e.g., Skinner, 1953) and therefore deserves serious scientific scrutiny.