Kohn, I am sure, is well aware that reinforcement happens, whether you want it or not, in every situation in which there is a parental response. The nature of the human brain makes it impossible to avoid reinforcement all together. Besides, truly avoiding reinforcement on purpose every single interaction you have with your child would be tedious, if not totally artificial. As usual, Tad misses the point entirely.pancras said:I very much like the practices that Kohn advocates it this excerpt. But I think some of his theory is incorrect. The responses he advocates under the heading "Say what you saw" and "Talk less, act more" are positive reinforcers. Kohn is (apparently unknowingly) advocating the use of positive reinforcement and conditioning while giving the appearance that he is vilifying it.
The point is that although reinforcement may happen no matter what you do, you can aim at minimizing it in order to let the child develop its own self-appraisal and internal motivation, while minimizing the negative effects of praises and rewards. For instance - saying what you saw is a way to remain mostly neutral when offering an observation, to help the child realize what's going on and to offer a support to the child's cognitive process during learning (something also called 'scaffolding', a notion introduced by psychologist Vygotsky, if you are interested in the specifics). Yet Kohn, like any professional in this field, is most probably quite aware that the very fact of noticing your child, as well as the tone of voice, may already provide positive reinforcement. At least, it is minimized as the child is encouraged to use their own judgment rather than always depend on somebody else assessment.
To claim that Kohn is (unknowingly or not) advocating positive reinforcement because these two examples also happen not to be 100% totally neutral (which is impossible!) is akin to say that you learned to play the piano because the piano seat was comfortable. It sure didn't hinder, but I'd venture to say it's only a side effect...