Function of Punishment: I. The effect of punishment as a Dynamic Function between Habit Strength and Punishment intensity

In daily life situations, we observe various kinds of so-called punishment, such as spanking a child for tearing its clothes and scolding a child for some other misconduct. Most of the effect of punishment people are usually interested in is the inhibition of unfavorable behavior, or the correction of misconduct. For parents and teachers, punishment is believed to be a very useful method for teaching their children without profound knowledge of its actual effects. So the educational importance of. punishment is beyond argument. What constitutes punishment? According to Young(29) 'From the individual, standpoint, punishment is typically unpleasant and frequently painful'. According to Deese(4) it produces emotional disturbances, and thus it comes to produce anxiety. Usually, such unpleasantness, pain, emotional disturbance or anxiety is considered to function as to stop or supress a response which is followed by punishment.