Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026
07:32
Novel Apparatus and Method for Drug Reinforcement
Published on: August 20, 2010
Developing and implementing a positive behavioral reinforcement intervention in prison-based drug treatment: Project
William M Burdon1, Jef St De Lore, Michael L Prendergast
1Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90025, USA. wburdon@ucla.edu
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
|December 22, 2011
Summary
This study explored positive behavioral reinforcement in prison drug treatment programs. While staff and inmate involvement boosted participation, it may have affected the intervention
Area of Science:
- Criminology
- Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Prisons predominantly use punishment to manage behavior, neglecting positive reinforcement for prosocial actions or treatment adherence.
- Inmates in drug treatment programs rarely receive positive reinforcement for behaviors supporting recovery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To overview the development and implementation of a positive behavioral reinforcement intervention.
- To assess the intervention's impact within male and female prison-based drug treatment programs.
Main Methods:
- Development and implementation of a positive behavioral reinforcement intervention.
- Active involvement of institutional staff, treatment staff, and inmates in intervention design.
- Utilized a randomized design to assess intervention effectiveness.
Main Results:
- Staff and inmate involvement, alongside successful intervention branding, promoted significant support and participation.
- These factors, however, may have influenced the randomized design's ability to reliably demonstrate effectiveness.
Conclusions:
- Collaborative development and branding enhance engagement with prison-based behavioral interventions.
- Further research is needed to disentangle the effects of intervention components from design limitations in demonstrating efficacy.
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01:27Punishment
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Punishment can be positive or negative. Positive punishment involves adding an undesirable stimulus, such as scolding, to decrease a behavior. Negative punishment involves removing a desirable stimulus, such as taking away a favorite toy, to decrease behavior.
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01:23Reinforcement
Positive and negative reinforcement are key concepts in operant conditioning, a learning process where the consequences of a behavior affect the likelihood of that behavior being repeated.
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03:20The Stanford Prison Experiment
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