--- On Wed, 12/10/08, Mario Goveia <mgov...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > >In my opinion, the term "punishment" is hyperbole in this article because >the >examples of "punishment" that are mentioned are not corporal > or physical, but more like disapproval and public embarrassment and >losing > some privilege or "points" in a game. The phrase "negative > consequences" would be far more appropriate. >
The authors of the original article use punishment in the technical sense in which it is used in psychology. That is not hyperbole. A good analogy is the use of the word "interest" in finance or economics. Here are two definitions of the general sense in which the word "punishment" is used in psychology: "Punishment is any change in a human or animal's surroundings that occurs after a given behavior or response which reduces the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future." http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Punishment-(psychology) "Punishment is defined as the administration of aversive stimulus to reduce or eliminate unwanted behavior. It can be either physical or nonphysical." http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2699/is_0005/ai_2699000594 Cheers, Santosh
