Negativity is a dangerous to the human mind. Negativity can lead to depression and lack self-confidence. If continued for long periods of time, it can lead to disastrous consequences to a person’s psyche. The question is, how can it be counteracted? With proper scientific processes, negativity could be removed from a person with correct forms of positive reinforcement. Punishment, in this case, would serve no purpose except creating more negativity in the study. Alleviating this frame of mind would help many people and, if treated properly with reinforcement, could lead to a much happier people. Negativity can be common in many people, but the question is, what is the cause? According to Dr. Steven M. Melemis, there are four main causes: all-or-nothing thinking, disqualifying the positives, self-labeling, and catastrophe style thinking (Melemis, 2010). These are all valid things. All-or-nothing thinking leads to disappointment because everything fails the person’s high standards. Disqualifying the positives leads to a succession of disappointing life events that lead to depression. Negative self-labeling results in a person …show more content…
There are two types of reinforcement: positive and negative. “A positive reinforcer is a stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in the preceding response” (Feldman, 2010, p. 178). This is a proven method to help bring about change. A negative reinforcer is also a great method to help bring about change and is defined as, “an unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads to an increase… that a preceding response will be repeated in the future” (Feldman, 2010, p. 178). These both can be used in a positive way in many situations; however, in the case of negativity, positive reinforcement would be better due to the fact they are receiving beneficial stimulus to encourage a behavior rather than getting something taken way to instill a
All of our emotions play a big role in our lives. Even though it does not feel like it at the moment, negative feelings can be a good thing.If we never become sad, angry, or scared we would not be able to appreciate the true value of happiness, we would only focus on ourselves and happiness, and we would become less alert to threats and dangerous situations around us.
Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of the speech “Smile or Die,” she uses this speech to inform her listeners about the ideology of mandatory positive thinking and how it is not always the answer. Ehrenreich talks about what people are forced to learn and how they are forced to think: if they want something bad enough, no matter what that thing may be, that wishing for it and having a positive attitude will put it in their possession. Wanting something bad enough is all it supposedly takes, yet Ehrenreich has an opposite perspective and she educates her audience on her opinion of “thinking positively” using her own personal experiences such as cancer, background knowledge and real-life examples. She wants people to understand that being positive
If someone thinks negatively towards something the outcome will not be good, and vice versa. Thinking you can achieve the American dream is a major key in doing so, and some Americans are already on the right track. In the U.S., a survey showed that 36 percent of Americans say they have achieved the dream, and another 46 percent believe they are on the path of achieving it. It is not so easy, though, to always look on the bright side. Sometimes it seems as if nothing is going right; that is when negativity occurs. People can argue that mindset has little impact on the outcome, or that it does not matter how positive a person is because some things are just not meant to be. An article, however, proves this wrong. The paper argues how negative emotions prevent humans from flourishing; it also states, “if your ratio of positive to negative emotions is greater than 2.9013 to one, you will flourish both physically and psychologically.” If a person believes in themselves, they are more likely to accomplish their
Positive reinforcement works by presenting something positive to the person after a desired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior more likely to happen in the future (McAdams, 2009). An example of this could be when a child helps their mother with the dishes and the mothers rewards the child with ice cream. Negative reinforcement, is when a behavior is strengthened by stopping, removing or avoiding a negative outcome or aversive stimulus (McAdams, 2009). An example of this could be when the light goes green at a traffic light, the car in front of a person does not move. The person hates when this happens and from experience knows that honking the car’s horn gets cars that are in front of them to go
The narrative piece, How full is your bucket, positive strategies for work and life, written by Tom Rath and his grandfather Donald Clifton, outlines a unique description of the impact of how sharing positive interactions with others (socially, intimately, in the work environment, and strangers) ensures a more fulfilling life. This book brings to light how negativity impacts your own life and the lives of individuals surrounding you. An interesting concept that was studied during the Korean War, the American captives were denies positive social interactions, and were denied support from loved ones (Rath & Clifton, 2009, p. 25). The soldiers were ultimately swayed to have a negative outlook and hopeless existence which unfortunately led to their demise. Negativity spreads to others like wildfire and takes away from your
...hey will not focus just on that because in life one cannot just focus on the negativity, they must balance it out with both good and bad. If one did not then many would be running through the motions of life, instead of experiencing them one at a time.
If a behavior is desirable, consequences called reinforcers are used to encourage the behavior in the future, via the process of reinforcement. Reinforcement can be positive (presenting reinforcing stimulus) or negative (removing a negative stimulus). However, if a behavior is undesired, a negative consequence can be used to discourage the behavior, through the process of either positive or negative punishment. In positive punishment, a negative consequence is presented after the undesired behavior occurs. When negative punishment it used the idea is the same “to discourage future display of undesired behavior,” but instead of presenting a negative stimulus, a desired stimulus is removed following the behavior.
Research has shown that there are negative personality traits that can cause an individual to be prone to becoming depressed. An individual’s negative personality traits can lead them to be perceived more negatively by others, which leads them to feel hurt and rejected (Whitbourne, 2013, para. 9). This is simply because no one likes to be around someone who is consistently negative since they bring negativity into the environment which also brings down other people’s mood. It is...
Negative reinforcement is when an individual has a negative outcome for doing something bad. Positive reinforcement is when you are rewarded for doing something well. I completed an assignment in which I had to give an example of a time in my life where I experienced both types of reinforcement. I think this is important in health care, because you have to know what works for your patient. As we know, some patients don’t always do what they are supposed to. These patients may decide to start following the doctor’s rules if he/she becomes ill from not following the directions. However, some patients may do better if they are rewarded. If a patient who is overweight has successfully lost weight after following the regimen, he/she may be more inclined to stick to the regimen. My knowledge of this information will help me to give patients the reinforcement that they
Negative reinforcement should not be alone because doing so can increase the likelihood of the behavior. Negative reinforcement is not
Positive reinforcement is a method of presenting to children the appropriate behavior from the inappropriate behaviors. This is done by pointing out the correct behavior and giving some form of encouraging reward. The idea is that all behaviors
It’s a well known fact that optimism affects life quality in positive ways. As it is commonly understood, the term ‘optimism’ leads life to a smaller amount of depression and it points towards satisfaction. Positive and negative thoughts are expected to come. These are vital for understanding the weakness to mental distraught, to be more specific; the state of mind in which negativity is a common theme. Lately, examinations have discovered an unusual relationship amongst hopefulness and depressive side effects [7, 8], and furthermore amongst good thinking and self-destructive ideation [9]. Therefore, hope and optimism appears to have an essential directing part in the relationship between sentiments of loss and self-destruction [10]. In connection
Positive reinforcement is a gentle and effective method to implement discipline in the classroom, where students understand the importance of good behaviour, and as an outcome students behave well (S, 2016).
Levine, A. (1999). What is negative reinforcement? Negative Reinforcement University. Retrieved on November 14, 2003 from http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/proj/nru/index.html
Stop nurturing negative emotions, thoughts, and beliefs – A good way to avoid nurturing negative thoughts is to stop comparing yourself with others. We should avoid situations that will trigger our temper and try to get rid of the negative thoughts by replacing them with positive thinking and positive thoughts.