Positive and negative reinforcement and punishment effectiveness According to Skinner, positive reinforcement is superior to punishment in altering behavior.


  As Skinner discussed, positive reinforcement is superior to punishment
  in altering behavior. He maintained that punishment was not simply the
  opposite of positive reinforcement; positive reinforcement results in
  lasting behavioral modification, whereas punishment changes behavior
  only temporarily and presents many detrimental side effects.



From the different combinations of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment and negative punishment, which has been shown to be the most effective in behaviour modification?
Also, does combining stimuli like positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement, become more effective?
In a two-alternative forced choice task with Mongolian Gerbils, Illango et al. (2010) compared the effectiveness of appetitive, aversive, and a combination of appetitive and aversive reinforcers. They conclude that the combination of appetitive and aversive reinforcers led


to the highest speed of acquisition
to maximum possible performance
and delayed extinction 


Note, however, that this does not have to be an effect of the reinforcers, but might also be an effect of the informational feedback. In a study on human category learning, Ashby &amp; O'Brian (2007) compared the effectiveness of positive and negative feedback (i.e., not reinforcers) in a two-alternative forced choice task. They also found that a combination of positive and negative feedback results in the best performance.

References

Ashby FG, O'Brien JB. (2007) The effects of positive versus negative feedback on information-integration category learning. Percept Psychophys 69(6):865-78. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18018967

Ilango A, Wetzel W, Scheich H, Ohl FW. (2010) The combination of appetitive and aversive reinforcers and the nature of their interaction during auditory learning. Neuroscience. 166(3):752-62. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20080152