severe punishment can be extremely effective behavior in stopping behavior. if a child sticks a finger in a light socket and gets a shocks, that may be the last time the child ever tries it. more often, however, punishment only temporarily suppresses a response. if the response is still reinforced, punishment may be particularly ineffective. responses suppressed by mild punishment usually reappear later. if a child sneaks a snack from the refrigerator before dinner and is punished for it, the child may pass up snacks for a short time. but since snack sneaking was also rewarded by the sneaked snack, the child will probably try sneaky snacking again, sometime later.