Reinforcement - A Learning Characteristics

Reinforcement 
How now do we account for the fact that tbe learner with a goal, and making many responses, selects certain of these responses-the right ones-and eliminates the wrong ones? This question brings us to the third basic characteristic of learning: reinforcement. The learner selects from all the responses he is making those that are reinforced. The responses that are not reinforce:! are eliminated or not learned.
You can easily understand the nature of reinforcement if you keep in mind that the person trying to -learn is, in a sense, out or balance with his environment. He sets out to restore himself to a balanced state by learning some adjustive act. The consequences of any act-reduction of pain, avoidance of- distress or punishment, recognition, success, reward, pleasure-which lead the rearner to­ward his goal are reinforcing. The satisfaction which accompanies a successful outcome reinforces the success-getting response, so the learner tends to repeat such responses. The unreinforced responses, since they are not successful in leading to the goal, are weakened. Our automobile driver -resorted JO many responses, some of which he eventually discovered were successful; others were unsuccessful. The former were repeated over and over again, each time receiving added reinforcement; the latter were not repeated because of lack of reinforcement, and hence were not learned.
The effect of knowing how one is doing-whether his reponses are right or wrong-provides the clearest and simplest illustration of reinforcement as a learning principle. In learning situations like playing tennis, bowling, casting for trout, or typewriting, the correct or successful response is usually apparent to the learner. When one makes a strike in bowling, the visual cues from the falling pins tell him immediately that the way he rolled the ball was the right way, and the ensuing reinforcement causes him to try to rall the ball the same way the next time. But suppose the learner has no way of knowing whether his response is correct. In a situation like this, reinforcement cannot occur, or is minimized, and hence learning should at least be retarded.