Editing Reinforcement (section)

===Praise===

{{Main|Praise}}
The concept of praise as a means of behavioral reinforcement in humans is rooted in B.F. Skinner's model of operant conditioning. Through this lens, praise has been viewed as a means of positive reinforcement, wherein an observed behavior is made more likely to occur by contingently praising said behavior.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kazdin|first1=Alan|title=History of behavior modification: Experimental foundations of contemporary research|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbehavio0000kazd|url-access=registration|date=1978|publisher=University Park Press|location=Baltimore|isbn=9780839112051}}</ref>  Hundreds of studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of praise in promoting positive behaviors, notably in the study of teacher and parent use of praise on child in promoting improved behavior and academic performance,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Baker GL, Barnes HJ | title = Superior vena cava syndrome: etiology, diagnosis, and treatment | journal = American Journal of Critical Care | volume = 1 | issue = 1 | pages = 54–64 |pmid=1307879 | year = 1992 | doi = 10.4037/ajcc1992.1.1.54 }}</ref><ref name="Garland et al. 2008"/> but also in the study of work performance.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Crowell CR, Anderson DC, Abel DM, Sergio JP | title = Task clarification, performance feedback, and social praise: Procedures for improving the customer service of bank tellers | journal = Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis| volume = 21 | issue = 1 | pages = 65–71 | date = 1988 | pmid = 16795713 | pmc = 1286094 | doi = 10.1901/jaba.1988.21-65 }}</ref> Praise has also been demonstrated to reinforce positive behaviors in non-praised adjacent individuals (such as a classmate of the praise recipient) through vicarious reinforcement.<ref name="Kazdin, 1973">{{cite journal | vauthors = Goldman NC | title = Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the external auditory canal | journal =  Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery | volume = 106 | issue = 2 | pages = 214–5 |pmid=1310808| year = 1992 | doi = 10.1177/019459989210600211 | s2cid = 23782303 }}</ref> Praise may be more or less effective in changing behavior depending on its form, content and delivery. In order for praise to effect positive behavior change, it must be contingent on the positive behavior (i.e., only administered after the targeted behavior is enacted), must specify the particulars of the behavior that is to be reinforced, and must be delivered sincerely and credibly.<ref name="Brophy, 1981">{{cite journal|last1=Brophy|first1=Jere | name-list-style = vanc |title=On praising effectively|journal=The Elementary School Journal|date=1981|volume=81|issue=5|pages=269–278 |jstor=1001606|doi=10.1086/461229 |s2cid=144444174 }}</ref>

Acknowledging the effect of praise as a positive reinforcement strategy, numerous behavioral and cognitive behavioral interventions have incorporated the use of praise in their protocols.<ref name="Simonsen et al 2008">{{cite journal|last1=Simonsen|first1=Brandi|last2=Fairbanks|first2=Sarah|last3=Briesch|first3=Amy|last4=Myers|first4=Diane|last5=Sugai|first5=George | name-list-style = vanc |title=Evidence-based Practices in Classroom Management: Considerations for Research to Practice|journal=Education and Treatment of Children|date=2008|volume=31|issue=1|pages=351–380|doi=10.1353/etc.0.0007|s2cid=145087451}}</ref><ref name="Weisz & Kazdin, 2010">{{cite book|last1=Weisz|first1=John R.|last2=Kazdin|first2=Alan E. | name-list-style = vanc |title=Evidence-based psychotherapies for children and adolescents|date=2010|publisher=Guilford Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QLzBv53CU2UC|isbn=9781606235256}}</ref> The strategic use of praise is recognized as an evidence-based practice in both classroom management<ref name="Simonsen et al 2008" /> and parenting training interventions,<ref name="Garland et al. 2008">{{cite journal | vauthors = Garland AF, Hawley KM, Brookman-Frazee L, Hurlburt MS | title = Identifying common elements of evidence-based psychosocial treatments for children's disruptive behavior problems | journal = Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry | volume = 47 | issue = 5 | pages = 505–14 | date = May 2008 | pmid = 18356768 | doi = 10.1097/CHI.0b013e31816765c2 }}</ref> though praise is often subsumed in intervention research into a larger category of positive reinforcement, which includes strategies such as strategic attention and behavioral rewards.