Clearly, the story of learning is unfinished without a return to the topic of punishment. Sin is always punished in this World, whatever may come in the next. On 6^th January 2015, former Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, age 60, was sentenced for two years for corruption. He was convicted of taking loans, clothing and private plane trips and other gifts from businessman Jonnie Williams. Prosecutors had sought to put McDonnell behind bars twelve years , while his defense team had pressed for community service and no prison time. Bob McDonnell’s wife, Maureen McDonnell, who was also found guilty of corruption charges in the case, is due for her sentencing hearing on 20^th February 2015. As Governor Jerry Brown of California knows, there is always some penalty in health, in comfort, or in peace of mind to be paid for every wrong.  It is unheard of that a person would be governor of the same state for four terms, and it is actually illegal, in California.

Spankings, reprimands, fines, jail sentences, firings, failing grades, and the like are commonly used to control behavior.  Recall that punishment lowers the probability that a response will occur again. To be most effective, punishment must be given contingently (only after an undesired response occurs).  Fines and imprisonments and corporal punishments operate more forcibly on the human mind than all the fears of damnation. Punishers, like reinforcers, are best defined by observing their effects on behavior. A punisher is any consequence that reduces the frequency of a target behavior. It is not always possible to know ahead of time what will act as a punisher for a particular person. For example, when Ian’s mother reprimanded him for throwing his toys, he stopped doing it. In this instance, the reprimand was a punisher. However, Kenny is starved for attention, of any kind from his parents, who both work full time.  For Kenny, a reprimand, or even a spanking, might actually reinforce toy throwing. Remember, too, that a punisher can be either onset of an unpleasant event, or the removal of a good state of affairs (response cost).

Punishers are consequences that lower the probability that a response will be made again. If a reporter is fired for lying and slandering a person, that termination of their employment is directly punishing because the reporter is noted for being unethical and reprimanded. Looking for another job will be difficult because the reporter did something wrong to get fired and others news agencies will not want to hire them, once the perspective employer fines out why he or she was terminated, and that adds to the punishment, in form of response cost.  Punishments are of service to the offenders. Rewards should be only to the meriting, and the former are to be dealt out rigorously in willful cases. How effective is punishment? Many people assume that punishment stops unacceptable behavior. Is this always true? Actually, the effectiveness of punishers depends greatly on their timing, consistency, and intensity. Punishment works best when it occurs as the response is being made, or immediately afterward (timing), and when it is given each time a response occurs (consistency). Thus, you could effectively (and humanely) punish a child that cries incessantly, every Sunday morning, from 7am until 11am, by asking it to stop each time it cries. Ten to fifteen such treatments are usually enough to greatly reduce crying.  This would not be the case if you applied punishment haphazardly or long after the crying stopped. If you discover that your son dug up a tree and ate it while you were gone, punishing the boy hours later will do little good.

Severe punishment (an intensely aversive or unpleasant stimulus) can be extremely effective in stopping behavior. If a 65-year-old Dave sticks his finger in a light socket and gets a shock, that may be the last time he ever tires it. More often, however, punishment only temporarily suppresses a response. If the response is still reinforced, punishment may be particularly ineffective, and responses suppressed by mild punishment usually reappear later. If 25-year-old Maria sneaks a snack from the refrigerator before dinner and is punished, she will probably try sneaky snacking again, sometime later (the beautiful little angel). She may not even want to eat again. It is worth nothing, however, that intense punishment may permanently suppress responding, even for actions as basic as eating. Parents and teachers have three basic tools to control simple learning: Reinforcement strengthens responses; non-reinforcement causes responses to extinguish; punishment suppresses responses. If punishment is used at all, it should always be mild. However, remember that mild will be ineffective if reinforcer are still available in the situation. That is why it is also best to reward an alternate, desired response. For example, a child who has a habit of taking toys from her brother should not just be reprimanded for it. He should be praised for cooperative play and rewarded for sharing his toys with others. Punishment tells a person that the response was wrong. However, it does not say what the right response is, so it does not teach new behaviors. If reinforcement is missing from the formula, punishment becomes less effective.

There are side effects of punishment. What are the draw backs of using punishment? A basic problem is that punishment is usually aversive (painful or uncomfortable). As a result, people and situations associated with punishment tend, through classical conditioning, to become feared, resented, or disliked. The aversive nature of punishment makes it especially poor to use when teaching children to eat politely or in toilet training. Escape and avoidance—a second major problem is that aversive stimuli usually encourage escape and avoidance learning. In escape learning, we learn to make a response in order to end an aversive stimulus. For example, if you work with an excessively cheerful and outgoing person, you may at first escape from conversations with him to obtain relief. Later you may dodge him altogether. This is an example of avoidance learning (making a response in order to postpone or prevent discomfort). Each time you sidestep him, your avoidance is reinforced by a sense of relief. In many situations involving frequent punishment, similar desires to escape and avoid are activated. For example, children who run away from punishing parents (escape) may soon learn to lie about their behavior (avoidance) or to spend as much time away from home as possible (also an avoidance response).

Aggression—a third problem with punishment is that it can greatly increase belligerence. Researchers have shown that people consistently react to pain by attacking whomever or whatever else is around. A common example is the nice old lady, who has a hot flash, and attacks the first people she can think of when she awakens from her nightmare of a painful procedure, at Planned Parenthood.  We also know that one of the most common responses to frustration is aggression. Generally speaking, punishment is painful frustrating or both. Punishment, therefore, sets up a powerful environment for learning belligerence. When a child is spanked, the child may feel angry, frustrated, and hostile. What if the child then goes outside and hits his brother? The danger is that destructive acts may feel good because they are releasing anger and frustration. If so, violence has been rewarded and will tend to occur again in other infuriating situations. One classic study found that overly aggressive adolescent boys had been severely punished for hostility at home. Since aggression was suppressed at home, parents were often surprised to learn that their good boys were in trouble at school for fighting. A more recent study of classroom discipline problems found that physical punishment, yelling, and humiliation are generally ineffective. Good reinforcement, in the form of praise, approval, and reward, it much more likely to quell classroom disruptions, defiance, and inattention.

There are times when punishment may be necessary to manage the behavior of a child, or even another adult. If you feel that you must punish, here are some tips to keep in mind. Do not used punishment at all if you can discourage misbehavior in other ways. Make liberal use of good reinforcement, especially praise to encourage good behavior. Also, try extinction first: see what happens if you ignore a problem behavior; or shift attention to a desirable activity and then reinforce with praise. Apply punishment during, or immediately after, misbehavior. Of course, immediate punishment is not always possible. With older children and adults, you can bridge the delay by clearly stating what act you are punishing. If you cannot punish a child immediately, wait for the next instance of misbehavior. Use the minimum punishment necessary to suppress misbehavior. Often, a verbal rebuke or a scolding is enough. Avoid harsh physical punishment. (Never hit a child in the head, for instance.) Taking away privileges or other good reinforcers (response cost) is usually best for older children and adults. Frequent punishment may lose its effectiveness, and harsh or excessive punishment has serious negative side effects (discussed in a moment).

Be consistent. Be very clear about what you regard as misbehavior. Punish every time the misbehavior occurs. Do not punish for something one day and ignore it the next. If you are usually willing to give a child three chances, do not change the rule and explode without warning after a first offense. Both parents should try to punish their children for the same things and in the same way. Expect anger from a punished person. Briefly acknowledge this anger, but be careful not to reinforce it. Be willing to admit your mistake if you wrongfully punish someone or if you punished too severely.  Punish with kindness and respect. Allow the punished person to retain self-respect. For instance, do not punish a person in front of others, it at all possible. A strong, trusting relationship tends to minimize behavior problems. Ideally, others should want to behave well to get your praise, not because they fear punishment. The most common error in using punishment is to rely on it alone for training or discipline. The overall emotional adjustment of a child disciplined mainly by reward is usually superior to one disciplined mainly by punishment. Frequent punishment makes a person unhappy, confused, anxious, aggressive, and fearful.

Parents and teachers should be aware that using punishment can be habit forming. When children are being noisy, messy, disrespectful, or otherwise misbehaving, the temptation to punish can be strong. The danger is that punishment often works. When it does, a sudden end to the adult’s irritation acts as a negative reinforcer; this encourages the adult to use punishment more often in the future. Immediate silence may be golden, but its cost can be very high in terms of the child’s emotional health. Sparing the rod will not spoil a child. In fact, the reverse is true: two recent studies found that young children with behavior problems had been harshly punished at home. And if your child is abused and their toys damaged, and you blame them for damaging the toy, but then punish them six to nine months later, and they did nothing wrong, you tortured that Child. Then end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sin. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to sever others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. However, rejoice that you participate in the suffering of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief, or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear the name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, if it is this hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly sinner?  So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

It is clear that difficulty at the midpoint of life is not universal. Most people thrive during the age of 50, and have no serious issues. A transition period ends one life pattern and opens the door to new possibilities. At such times, people address concerns about themselves, their work and their relationships to others. While in Saudi Arabia, Carol and her husband, John Muir, a Bechtel executive, had dreamed of becoming inn keepers. Fantasy took a quantum leap toward reality when the couple put last things first. While vacationing in Nepal, Carol and John visited a rosewood factory where, on an impulse, they placed an order for ten tables, forty chairs, ten mirror frames, trim for forty doors, and one magnificent front door. Now they have to do it! Upon returning to California, Carol and John proceeded to search for the perfect house to use as a hotel style bed and breakfast. However, the search was elusive, until one day saw John Paxton’s mansion.  John Paxton was a state legislator, who made a fortune in mining, banking, lumber.  It was a Gothic Victorian mansion with a wraparound veranda and mansard roof; everyone was awed by the fascinating grand mansion, set on a knoll, surrounded by towering trees. The mansion was built in 1880, and it was the showplace sitting on a 40-acre ranch. However, in 1887, Hannah Paxton received word that her husband, John Paxton, had died of a sudden heart attack, on a steamer, while returning from a business trip to Liverpool. 

The body was returned to Hannah, and she kept it in a leadlined, glass coffin, in the house until her own death in 1902. The couple’s two sons, Blitz and Charles, inherited the dynasty. Blitz Paxton, who took over the family mansion, as well as the presidency of the Bank of Santa Rose, shocked the community by deserting his wife and their two children to marry another woman. And his brother, Charles Paxton took his  life after his wife deserted him for another man. The Paxton mansion was sold in 1913, and passed from one owner to another, until the bright Victorian was held together by prayers, standing empty and waiting. In 1982, when Carol and John Muir purchased the house, Carol wondered about the former tenants. Who had walked within those walls, loving, laughing, and crying? What angry words were spoken there? She had inkling that the house just might be haunted. A crew of carpenters from Red Bluff would drive down late Sunday, working and camping in the house, until their return him on Friday. None of them saw anything. However, Carol swears she could feel a presence, and had a sense of being watched and she often complained of things being moved to strange, unexpected places. However, John Muir believed it was nonsense. Carol used to complain that there was not much to do, and when the night falls, it is like a great black curtain over the entire estate. As Carol was sleeping, one night, she got the thrill that she had been begging for. Carol suddenly awakened to confront a woman, possibly in her mid-20s, wearing a long black dress, a narrow black ribbon fastening her white Peter Pan collar.

 Carol then closed her eyes, and forced herself to breathe more slowly. When she felt more in control, with fear and trepidation, she opened her eyes. The woman had moved and was sitting in the blue velvet chair by the window. “What do you want?” Carol asked. There was no answer and as she watched, straining to make out more details, the slender form dissolved. A few years later, during breakfast, on 19 June 1986, Carol had another episode. After completing dinner, Carol was startled to see one of the French doors open and a small gray-haired lady dressed in the clothing of the last century entered the room. No one else was aware of here, but as Carol continued to stare, the woman approached. “I am glad that you can see me, I feel so badly sometimes that no one can. This was my house once and I like what has been done to it. I would like to tell someone that—now you can tell them,” the mysterious woman said. Carol could not tell her husband, John Muir, what had happened. Her husband had been sitting beside her the entire time and had seen nothing; but Carol Muir felt the need to confide her experience. Then she literally shrieked because a cup of coffee revolved on its saucer right before her eyes. It is hard to ignore that kind of evidence, but John Muir did not even blink an eye, as if nothing even happened.

Attractive, gregarious, and highly efficient—it seemed Carol Muir was losing her mind. Often some people see their 50s as the last chance to achieve their goals. Such goals often started as a key event, such as reaching a certain income, or becoming a supervisor, a full-time professor, a shop steward, and so forth. For these individuals, like Carol Muir, the midlife period was stressful, but manageable. A smaller percentage of men experience a serious midlife decline, and that is probably why John Muir did not notice the “ghosts.” Often, this pattern of decline is based on having chosen a job haunted by a dead-end or lifestyle.  In some cases, it meant that the men did not decline because they have achieved material success; unless they believe what they are doing is pointless. It seems that Carol was having a midlife crisis, which can be both a danger and an opportunity. Ideally, the midlife transition involves a time of reworking old identities, of achieving long-sought goals, of finding one’s own truths, and preparing for later maturity and aging. Much like John and Carol, it important to emphasize again, however, that many people’s lives differ greatly from the generalized description. Adult development is complex and each person’s path through life is unique. At the very least, however, in can be noted that everyone’s life repeatedly moves through cycles of stability and transition; when individuals reach their 40s and 50s, declining vigor, strength, and youthfulness make it clear that more than half of their years are gone! At the same time, greater stability comes from letting go of the impossible dream. That is, there is an increased attempt to be satisfied with the direction one’s life has taken and to accept that hoped for life goals may longer be possible.

 Perhaps Carol’s midlife crisis was extreme because for most women, their 50s is when they experience menopause. At menopause, which occurs at an average age of 51, monthly menstruation ends, and a woman is no longer able to bear children, in most cases. At the same time, the level of hormone estrogen drops—sometimes causing changes in mood, mental state, vision, and/or appearance. Menopause also may cause symptoms, such as hot flashes (a sudden uncomfortable sensation of heat) or night sweats.  A few women, like Carol Muir, find menopause as difficult to adjust to as adolescence, and some experience anxiety, irritability, hallucinations, or depression. Most women, however, are neutral about the loss of reproductive ability—some are actually happy not to menstruate and no longer be fertile, so menopause is not all bad, there are some good aspects. All considered, the vast majority of women easily take the pause in stride, with no major emotional problems.  Carol learned to brag about her son’s cooking—Todd, a graduate of the California Culinary Academy, worked at the famed Chez Panisse Restaurant before coming to the Madrona—or discuss her prized winning wine lost, than ponder ghostly possibilities. “If you can say live and let live, about a ghost (menopause) that is how I feel. I do not bother them—they do not bother me. We are happy,” reports Carol Muir.

Males do not undergo any physical changes that are directly comparable to menopause. With aging, the production of the male hormone testosterone gradually lessens. However, men remain fertile, at this time. One the other hand, aging males may be affected by changes in their appearance and physical vigor. Some 40- to 60-year-old men do appear to pass through a climacteric, change of life. However, their symptoms (depression, anxiety, and irritability) are probably psychological in origin. Well-being at Midlife–the pitfalls of adulthood are all too familiar: marital discord, divorce, career difficulties, unemployment, health issues, financial pressures, legal conflicts, and personal tragedies—to name, but a few. How do people maintain a state of well-being as they run the gauntlet of modern life? Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Your Heavenly Father knows you need these things. However, seek first, his Kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the stars in my eyes, and pay no attention to plank in your own eye? How can you say to me, let me monitor you and show you what you are doing wrong, when all the time it is none of your business? You hypocrite, first clean up your thoughts and life, and then you will see more clearly to be the change in society that you want to see.  Well-being during adulthood consists of six elements: self-acceptance, good relationships with others, personal freedom, environmental mastery, a purpose in life, and continued personal growth. Thus, sharing life’s joys and sorrows with others, coupled with a better understanding of how the World works, can help carry people through the midlife period and into their later years. Signs of aging may be unmistakable, in middle age, but people are also at their peak, in many respects. Instead of emphasizing decline, many of today’s adults seek active, healthy lifestyles. This can make the middle-age years a good experience, not something to be dreaded or endured. You no longer are trying to impress people, you do not have teenager dramas, and you know what you want in a mate. So there are benefits to aging. Enter through the narrow gate, for the wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. However, small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

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There is commonly something extraordinary in the fortunes of those who fly from society.  If people were equal tomorrow and all wore the same coats, they would wear different coats every day.  In December of 2014, the United States of America added 252,000 jobs to the economy. Where are these jobs being created? Well, professional and business sector increased the number of jobs by 52,000. There have also been increases in construction where we saw 48,000 new jobs created. Many experts, like Rebecca Jarvis, chief business and economic correspondent for ABC World News are surprise to see such a high increase in food services jobs, which saw employment numbers surge by 44,000, which is 14,000 above expected projections. There were 34,000 new positions created in the health care industry, and manufacture experienced modest growth of 17,000 jobs. The average hourly earnings, however, decreased by $.05, to $24.57 an hour, which means the average worker makes $47,174.40 annually.

Losing a job can be the most distressing economic event in a person’s life. Most people rely on their labor earnings to maintain their standard of living, and many people get from their work not only income, but also a sense of person accomplishment. Typically, a job loss means a lower living standard in the present, anxiety about the future, and reduced self-esteem. Unemployment means that people are not employed, are unavailable for work, and have tried to find employment during the previous 4 weeks. It also includes those waiting to be recalled to a job, from which they had been laid off. The unemployment rate is currently 5.6 percent, which is just a little above the natural unemployment rate of 5.2 percent. Here are the unemployment rates by worker groups: adult women are at 5 percent, adult men are displaying a rate of 5.3 percent. Teens have the highest unemployment rate of 17 percent, while African Americans come in with the second highest unemployment rate of 10 percent, which is almost twice as high as the national unemployment rate. Hispanics are experiencing a 6.5 percent rate of unemployment, and Asians are doing the best with only 4 percent unemployed.

Measuring the amount of unemployment in the economy might seem like a simply task, but it is actually more complex than it seems. While it is easy to distinguish between a person with a full-time job and a person who is not working at all, it is much harder to distinguish between a person who is unemployed and a person who is not in the labor force.  Because people move into and out of the labor force so often, statistics on unemployment are difficult to interpret. One the one hand, some of those who report being unemployed may not, in fact, be trying hard to find a job. They may be calling themselves unemployed because they want to qualify for a government program that financially assists the unemployed or because they are actually working and paid under the table. It may be more realistic to view these individuals as out of the labor force or, in some cases, employed. However, some of those who report being out of the labor force may want to work.

Nonetheless, most spells of unemployment are short. These individuals may have tried to find a job and may have given up after an unsuccessful search. Such individuals are called discouraged workers. Discouraged workers do not show up in unemployment statistics, even though they are unemployed because they have been out of the work force for more than 4 weeks. One reason economies always experience some unemployment is job search. Job search is the process of matching workers with appropriate jobs. If all workers and all jobs were the same, so that all workers were equally well suited for careers, job search would not be a problem.  Teens and African Americans supposedly have such high unemployment rates due to the fact that some are allegedly inexperienced and require an advanced degree.

In Fact, workers differ in their tastes and skills, jobs differ in their attributes, and information about job candidates and job vacancies is disseminated slowly among the many firms and households in the economy. There are currently 2.8 million Americans, who are long-term unemployed (discouraged workers), they have been jobless for 27 weeks or more, and account for 32 percent of the employed, but because they have been out of the workforce for so long, they are considered jobless, not unemployed. Nearly 66 percent of nonworking men ages 25 to 64 received income from some source. Among those with unearned income, the average amount was $11,551.00 a year, with the largest sums coming from Social Security and disability payments. However, could you imagine being single and living off of $962.58 a month—in many places you would not even qualify to rent an apartment because your income is less than the average rent of $1,003.00 a month. Not surprisingly, wives are also an important source of financial support for nonworking men, but only 42 percent of male non-workers between the ages of 25 and 54 are married; compared with 68 percent of their employed counterparts. So many people are left wondering, if you only make $962.58 a month, how you can even afford to live, as they do not qualify for food stamps and some individuals alone spend $400.00 a month on food.

Well, Social Security is usually for people who retire. By the time they retire, these people have paid off their cars, homes, and only have to worry about utilities, and are usually married, so they are fine, and probably having savings. However, some people are young and disabled. They once used to work and make a lot of money, but are now hurt and cannot afford to work and are living on disability, so how are they able to make it? Well, some of them get settlements, for being injured at work or in an accident, and they used that money to pay for their housing and live off disability, until they are well enough to go back to work, or decide that they would rather run the risk of reinjuring themselves, or making the injury worse, than to live off of such low pay.  Another misconception I want to clear up, not all people who are disabled or lazy or disfigured, nor are they crazy. Maybe there is something internal going on. You actually have some coworkers who are mentally disabled and physically disabled, but they are still able to work.

However, for those who cannot work or choose not to, living off of less than $1,000.00 a month can be challenging. The experiences of nonworking adult men and women can be quite varied, and many have severe disabilities. A lot of them end up homeless because they cannot afford to rent or live out of shelters. Others rent rooms from people, or someone is kind enough to share a sofa with them. Others are lucky to find limited low income housing and still life on tight budgets. And I know what you are thinking….but what about the people born with disabilities and cannot work.

Well, their parents usually build a nest egg for them and support them their entire lives, and that is far better than aborting a child. And some born with disabilities do, in fact, work and make just as much as your local news anchor. So there is always hope.  The one thing I do not recommend is abusing government services because it is a trap, when you have to go back to work or need to, you will have no skills and be competing with teenagers for low skill jobs, and it will crush yourself esteem. Not only that, but you have a new added cost of getting to work and pay for insurance. Speaking of transportation, the United States of America is seeing gas prices drop to less than $2.00 a gallon, so that may help some who are jobless, in their search for work, and lower fuel prices will help those who commute everyday put more food on the table. Therefore, esteem people for what we find in them, not what they may have been. Even people with high incomes do not want you in their financial information because they do not want people to target them and use them for their income, position, assets, network or resources—love me for who I am, no matter if I am rich or poor.