Positive & Negative Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement comes in many forms, including concrete reinforcers, social reinforcers, and activity reinforcers.
A concrete reinforcer is something tangible that can be seen. For example, if Charlotte does all of her homework, her mom gives her a sticker.
A social reinforcer is a gesture from another person in response to a behavior. For example, if Adam slam-dunks a basketball, his friend gives him a high five.
An activity reinforcer is an opportunity to engage in a fun activity. People will do something they don’t enjoy for a chance to do something that they do enjoy. For example, if Jennifer cleans her room, her mom will take her out for icecream.
Negative reinforcement is when a particular stimulus is removed after a behavior, and this causes the behavior to increase as a result. Negative in this sense does not mean “bad”, but that something is subtracted or taken away.
For example, if Megan’s mom is always nagging her to wash the dishes (nagging is the stimulus) and when Megan does the dishes, her mom stops nagging her, then negative reinforcement has occurred. From now on, Megan is more likely to do the dishes if only to avoid her mother’s nagging.
