Road Safety: Reinforcement and Punishment

How reinforcement and punishment can be applied through operant conditioning by the traffic police to promote road safety.

What is Operant Conditioning. [How Operant Conditioning Works] B.F. Skinner. How Reinforcement and Punishment Modify Behavior Operant conditioning, also known as instrumental conditioning, is a method of learning normally attributed to B.F. Skinner, where the consequences of a response determine the probability of it being repeated. Through operant conditioning behavior which is reinforced (rewarded) will likely be repeated, and behavior which is punished will occur less frequently. By the 1920s, John B. Watson had left academic psychology, and other behaviorists were becoming influential, proposing new forms of learning other than classical conditioning. Skinner's views were slightly less extreme than those of Watson (1913). The work of Skinner was rooted in a view that classical conditioning was far too simplistic to be a complete explanation of complex human behavior. BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based on Thorndike’s (1898) law of effect.

[Video] Operant Conditioning. What is Reinforcement. Positive Versus Negative Reinforcement. The 4 Reinforcement Schedules. [Video] Difference Between Positive and Negative Reinforcement. What is Punishment. Positive Versus Negative Punishment.

[Additional Readings] What's The Difference Between Positive and Negative Punishment? - North Shore Pediatric Therapy. [Video] Difference Between Positive and Negative Punishment. Reinforcement Versus Punishment. [Table Diagram] Reinforcement Versus Punishment. [Additional Readings] Reinforcement and Punishment.

Learning Objectives Explain the difference between reinforcement and punishment (including positive and negative reinforcement and positive and negative punishment)Define shapingDifferentiate between primary and secondary reinforcers In discussing operant conditioning, we use several everyday words—positive, negative, reinforcement, and punishment—in a specialized manner.

In operant conditioning, positive and negative do not mean good and bad. Instead, positive means you are adding something, and negative means you are taking something away. Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior, and punishment means you are decreasing a behavior. Reinforcement The most effective way to teach a person or animal a new behavior is with positive reinforcement. For example, you tell your five-year-old son, Jerome, that if he cleans his room, he will get a toy.

In negative reinforcement, an undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior. [Video] Learning: Negative Reinforcement vs. Punishment. Examples of Reinforcement for Road Safety. Examples of Punishment for Road Safety. [Positive Reinforcement] Launch Of Road Safety For The Elderly 2020 Campaign. The Singapore Road Safety Council (SRSC) and Traffic Police (TP), with support from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and People’s Association (PA), launched the Road Safety for the Elderly 2020 campaign on 28 August 2020.

Accidents involving elderly pedestrians remain a key concern. In the first half of 2020, about 46% of all accidents involving elderly pedestrians were attributed to jaywalking. In past years, road safety engagements, carnivals and concerts were organised by SRSC and TP to reach out to the elderlies. These outreach efforts were complemented by LTA’s elderly-friendly traffic schemes such as the Green Man + reader mounted above the standard push-button at various signalised pedestrian crossings whereby elderlies may tap their senior citizen concession cards on the reader for longer crossing times. In addition, 50 Silver Zones will be implemented island-wide by 2023 to enhance road safety. [Positive Reinforcement] Three new categories introduced for this year's road safety awards, Transport News. [Negative Reinforcement] Motorists can reduce demerit points if they attend safety course.

SINGAPORE — Motorists who have accumulated more than half of their maximum allowable demerit points now have a chance to redeem themselves via the Traffic Police’s Safe Driving Course (SDC), set to be introduced next month.

Designed to educate motorists on safe driving techniques, correct dangerous driving behaviour and encourage good road habits, the SDC is an enhancement to the Driver Improvement Points System (DIPS). Motorists who complete the SDC will have three demerit points cancelled from their driving records, but they can only get demerit points cancelled twice during their lifetime. The SDC will consist of both theory and practical sessions for a total of 4 hours.

These can be completed within a day or on two different days at one of the licensed driving schools - ComfortDelGro Driving Centre, Singapore Safety Driving Centre and Bukit Batok Driving Centre. Eligible motorists will receive an invitation from the Traffic Police to attend the SDC. [Negative Reinforcement] Safe driving course revises rules to help drivers cut 4 demerit points. SINGAPORE: Motorists who have clocked up eight demerit points, and want to have four of those points expunged from their record will now be able to do so after the Traffic Police relaxed the criteria for joining their voluntary Safe Driving Course.

Effective Wednesday (Nov 1), the Traffic Police is lowering the number of demerit points a motorist must have accumulated before being eligible to attend the Safe Driving Course, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) announced on Tuesday. This will allow more motorists to benefit from the course, which aims to encourage motorists to come forward to correct their driving behaviour on their own accord.

[Positive Punishment] Two Men Arrested For Dangerous Driving. The Police have arrested two men, aged 30 and 41, for their suspected involvement in a case of dangerous driving.

On 29 July 2020 at 9.06pm, the Traffic Police were alerted to an accident that occurred along Central Expressway (CTE) towards Seletar Expressway (SLE) after Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 involving a van and a car. The van driver and his passenger were conscious when conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. Preliminary investigations revealed that the car involved in the accident was driving dangerously alongside another car along CTE prior to the accident. The Traffic Police arrested the two car drivers on 30 July 2020. Both their vehicles were impounded and their driving licences were suspended with immediate effect. Under Section 64(1) of the Road Traffic Act, the offence of dangerous driving carries a jail term of up to 12 months, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

[Positive Punishment] 10kmh riding speed limit on footpaths among new rules to kick in on Feb 1. SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Friday (Jan 18) announced that new rules encouraging safer path and road-sharing will be implemented on Feb 1.

The rules, first announced in September last year, include a lower speed limit for riders on footpaths, the mandatory use of helmets by cyclists on roads, "stop and look" requirement for all active mobility device users and maximum device speed for personal mobility aids (PMAs). The rules are "part of ongoing efforts to foster greater rider responsibility and encourage safe sharing of our paths and roads”, the authority said in a news release. Under the new rules, the speed limit for riding on footpaths will be lowered from the current 15kmh to 10kmh. “This will allow all path users more time to react to unforeseen circumstances, thus reducing the risk of accidents and severity of injuries should they happen,” said LTA. [Negative Punishment] Lucky Plaza accident: Driver's licence was suspended immediately, police say. SINGAPORE: The 64-year-old male driver who was arrested for dangerous driving causing death in the Lucky Plaza accident also had his driving licence suspended immediately, police said.

In response to queries by CNA, police said on Tuesday (Jan 14) his licence was suspended with "immediate effect" upon his arrest, adding that investigations are still ongoing. Two women were killed and four others injured in the accident on Dec 29 last year. All six women are domestic workers from the Philippines working in Singapore. CCTV footage of the incident shows a car moving off from a drop-off point outside the Lucky Plaza apartment block along Nutmeg Road, before making a U-turn and accelerating onto a footpath.

The car then ploughed into a group of people, crashed through a railing and landed on a service road below leading out of the Lucky Plaza car park. [Negative Punishment] E-scooter ban on footpaths to extend to all motorised PMDs under amendments to Active Mobility Act. SINGAPORE: The ban on riding e-scooters on footpaths will be extended to all motorised personal mobility devices (PMDs) under amendments to the Active Mobility Act introduced in Parliament on Monday (Jan 6).

The ban came into effect for e-scooters – defined as motorised PMDs with handlebars – on Nov 5 last year. Under the Active Mobility (Amendment) Bill, the footpath ban will include devices such as hoverboards and electric unicycles. The Bill also allows the implementation of a number of recommendations made by the Active Mobility Advisory Panel in September. These recommendations, which were accepted by the Government in December, include the introduction of a mandatory theory test for e-scooter users as well as a minimum age for to ride motorised PMDs on public paths. Under the amendments, underaged riders caught using such devices on shared paths without adult supervision would face fines of up to S$1,000 or a jail term of up to three months, or both, for a first offence.