ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on a number of objections after first discussing several definitions of bribery—an issue intimately related to the objections to tangible reinforcers. Parents and administrators frequently state that the dispensing of concrete reinforcers is tantamount to giving bribes. However, close scrutiny of the definitions of bribery and attitudes toward the use of tangible reinforcers reveals a considerable amount of inconsistency and ambiguity. According to the primary dictionary definition, a bribe is a "price, reward, gift or favor bestowed or promised with a view to pervert the judgment or corrupt the conduct, especially of a person of trust. The behavior modifier wishing to use concrete or tangible reinforcers to change behavior is challenged frequently by people who assert that the behavior modifier wishes to use bribery.