Objections


 * Opposing Views to Instrumental Conditioning **


 * Latent Learning **

 Despite conclusions reached about reinforcers acting as significant stimuli in learning, some psychologists question the importance of reinforcement and whether it is necessary at all. "Much of human learning goes on without any apparent reinforcement" (Terry, 2009, p. 105). For instance, humans and animals possess the ability to in-deliberately remember and create memories subconsciously, without any known reinforcements being present. For this reason, scientists Tolman and Honzik set out to determine whether some form of reinforcement was required for animals to learn. In 1930, Tolman and Honzik created an experiment to study latent learning by training three groups of rats in a maze (Terry, 2009). In one group, rats were trained to learn the maze and were rewarded with food at the end, while another group of rats learned the maze and were never rewarded. A third group of rats were placed in the maze and were rewarded on one day, but not on another. From these experiments, Tolman concluded these rats were able to learn the maze without any reinforcements, but this information was latent, or hidden, until they had a reason to use it when a reward was present (Terry 2009).


 * Reinforcement and Morality **

Although is is highly successful in schools, work-places and other institutions, behavioral technology has received criticism for its underlying concepts and overall effectiveness on a long-term basis (Terry, 2009). Some believe that the use of rewards or reinforcements is manipulating and raises a question of morality. To this, B. F. Skinner comments that "our behavior is already controlled by its consequences, although we are not always aware of it" (Terry, 2009, p. 108). Instances of controlling human behavior are seen in our daily lives and commonly used by parents, peers, schools, employers, and governments (Terry, 2009).


 * Intrinsic Motivation **

The idea of intrinsic motivation, "an internally motivated desire to perform a given behavior for its own sake" introduces another objection to the validity of reinforcement. This criticism states the valid point that in certain cases, some behaviors may not be influenced by a reinforcement. If an animal wanted to perform a behavior due to their own internal desires, they would do it, regardless of any reward or reinforcement that may be present afterwards. However, experiments have shown that even if intrinsic motivation was initially present, the addition of a reward creates a larger motivation than intrinsic motivation could. According to Kohn, the notion that rewards are able to undermine intrinsic motivation has become widely accepted (Kohn, 1993).


 * How Effective is Reinforcement? **

Another criticism to the importance of reinforcement in learning and operant conditioning raises the idea that reinforcements may not be truly effective. Critics argue that while reinforcements may promote a learned behavior, once the reinforcement is gone, the behavior will disappear. Those who use behavior modification counter this idea by stating that the use of explicit reinforcements are not intended to be permanent, but rather only temporary (Terry, 2009). Once an individual learns a behavior and has had enough repetition of this behavior, explicit reinforcements are not always necessary due to other factors. For instance, a child may begin to repeat a learned behavior without any reinforcements simply to receive praise from their parents and achieve a sense of internal accomplishment.