Dan Pink's TED talk demonstrates the importance of questioning the universality of reinforcers. He elaborates on Sam Glucksberg's studies that show that certain tasks are done better when the person is offered monetary incentives, while others (e.g., certain creative tasks) are not. While Pink goes on to talk about "intrinsic" versus "extrinsic" rewards, I think a big point for those working with individuals on the Autism Spectrum is that these folks may find different types of stimuli reinforcing (thus the idea that "one person's reinforcer is another person's punisher).
Think of "reinforcers" as being "increasers" and "punishers" as being "decreasers." Many people I know with ASD's like different kind of stuff, such as working on math problems or statistical problems. While more typical people may require reinforcement to attempt such tasks, people with ASD's may find those activities to be higher order reinforcers themselves. Put simply, let some people work on, say complex statistical problems and forget about monetary incentives...they just love it.
When we assume "universality" of reinforcement types (e.g., money as a behavior increaser) we fall in to occasional traps and may, as Dan Pink rightly points out, inadvertantly do more harm than good.
Dan Pink's TED talk demonstrates the importance of questioning the universality of reinforcers. He elaborates on Sam Glucksberg's studies that show that certain tasks are done better when the person is offered monetary incentives, while others (e.g., certain creative tasks) are not. While Pink goes on to talk about "intrinsic" versus "extrinsic" rewards, I think a big point for those working with individuals on the Autism Spectrum is that these folks may find different types of stimuli reinforcing (thus the idea that "one person's reinforcer is another person's punisher).
Think of "reinforcers" as being "increasers" and "punishers" as being "decreasers." Many people I know with ASD's like different kind of stuff, such as working on math problems or statistical problems. While more typical people may require reinforcement to attempt such tasks, people with ASD's may find those activities to be higher order reinforcers themselves. Put simply, let some people work on, say complex statistical problems and forget about monetary incentives...they just love it.
When we assume "universality" of reinforcement types (e.g., money as a behavior increaser) we fall in to occasional traps and may, as Dan Pink rightly points out, inadvertantly do more harm than good.