Punishment happens: some comments on Lerman and Vorndran's review.
Some readers will view the article by Lerman and Vorndran as controversial. It is a review of existing basic and applied research on punishment and a call for additional research on punishment. The thesis of my commentary is that the paper should not be viewed as controversial. Punishment happens. To ignore a natural phenomenon and its implications for a technology of behavior is akin to ignoring the physical nature of the universe. A science and a technology of behavior are incomplete without research on punishment. Five reasons to pursue punishment research are discussed, along with some caveats.
Vollmer
Timothy R
TR
Psychology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611, USA. vollmera@ufl.edu
D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D011678:Punishment; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology