The cognitive contours of punishment

Abstract

People have many ways of influencing others, and one powerful method is through punishment. Punishment can be used to correct the misaligned values of those who commit moral infractions and to instill new values in those learning new things. We have a natural inclination to punish others and quickly learn from the punishments that we receive. In this dissertation I explore the cognitive mechanisms that allow us to learn from and teach with punishment successfully. Specifically, I ask how we conceptualize and structure punishments, how we learn from them, and how punishments modify our subsequent thoughts and behaviors. I examine two possibilities. The first suggests that we view punishments purely as a form of reinforcement and respond to it by using our cognitive ability for reinforcement learning. On this view, punishment is effective in changing behavior simply because it is inherently unpleasant. The second process suggests that we view punishment as a form of communication and engage with it by relying on our capacity for theory of mind. On this perspective, punishment serves as an informative signal conveying the punisher's values and goals. Its efficacy in modifying behavior stems from the message it conveys and the inferences it enables learners to draw. Across various chapters of this dissertation, I explore the distinct roles each of these processes plays in shaping our experiences with punishment. Chapter 1 shows that people generally engage with punishment through communicative inference, wherein teaching and learning from punishment entail expressing and inferring communicative intent. Chapters 2 and 3 identify scenarios where the direct and inherent unpleasantness of punishment plays a crucial part in eliciting the desired behavioral change. Finally, Chapter 4 demonstrates that when imparting novel information to another person, instead of simply reinforcing good or bad actions, people structure their punishments communicatively to influence the learner's belief in a way that minimizes uncertainty and prioritizes establishing common ground. Taken together, this dissertation provides valuable insights into the cognitive processes that shape our experiences with punishment and highlights the roles they play in facilitating our use of punishment for social control and social pedagogy.