The Carrot or the Stick

I have been ruminating lately over the value of administering spankings as motivation to achieve goals and as punishment for failure to achieve them.

About three years ago I was working very hard to prepare for an exam. I knew the actual date of the exam months ahead, and in order to cover all the material, I needed to be very organized and motivated. To assist me, I prepared charts of exactly what I needed to do each week, and kept all the charts in a binder so I could see my progress over the months.

I allocated some time first thing each morning to devote to studying, and I also set myself a target starting time. As the exam drew nearer the starting time got earlier and earlier. For each day that I was seated, coffee in hand and ready to work, at the predetermined time, I gave myself a sticker at the top of the column for that day. At the end of the week I could look back and see how often I had been ready to start on time.

I wonder what would have happened if, instead of being rewarded for starting on time, I had been punished each time I was late? Would I have been as motivated if I had been threatened with a spanking instead of enticed with a sticker?

It sounds silly to get excited over a little sticker that I gave myself, but that small reward made me smile and encouraged me. Would there have been a reason to punish me for failure? Ron didn't care if I studied or not. It wasn't up to him to control my work habits. My real punishment would have been failing the exam, and I wasn't going to even consider that possibility.

Animals learn more quickly and are eager to please when they are given positive rather than negative reinforcement. Why wouldn't it work that way for people? Maybe if I had been offered a spanking as a reward for being on time, say, five days out of seven, that might have worked as well as stickers.