Let's start by saying that no one fits neatly into a little box. I identify as a transsexual but I cannot deny there is a little of the TV, CD and TG in me as well. I also believe that many CD's try to align themselves with the transsexual population; almost as if it is a badge of honour. It isn't.
learning perspective: A psychological approach that emphasizes how the environment and experience affect a persn's or animal's actions; it includes behaviorism and social-cognitive learning theories. behaviorists: focus on the environmental rewards and punishers that maintain or discourage specific behaviors. 19: social-cognitive learning theorists
In operant conditioning, punishment is any change in a human or animal's surroundings that occurs after a given behavior or response which reduces the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future. As with reinforcement, it is the behavior, not the animal, that is punished. Whether a change is or is not punishing is only known by its effect on the rate of the behavior, not by any hostile or aversive features of the change. For example, painful stimulation which would serve as a punisher in many cases serves to reinforce some behaviors of the masochist.