What is the most effective balance between positive reinforcement and punishment?
Three factors enter into the effectiveness of both negative and positive inducements: • People must be well informed about the reward or punishment system; • In considering whether or not to engage in an action, a person will weigh the perceived rewards or punishments for altering his behavior against the perceived benefits of acting according to his natural inclination. In other words “Am I better off acting as ’they’ want me to act, or as I feel like acting?”; The perceived reward/punishment must be compelling enough to overcome natural tendencies. Into this calculation enters the question of how likely it is that the reward or punishment will actually materialize; • The person must be capable of exercising judgement at the moment of decision. Let’s look at various reward/punishment systems and see how this plays out: Our system of traffic laws seeks to modify our natural behavior by a purely punitive system. It is aimed at keeping people from doing certain things; there is no reward
