The Concept of Positive Reinforcement - Essay Example

The term coined by B.F. Skinner, negative reinforcement is a kind of motivational technique that aims at the repetition of a certain behavior, by the removal of aversive stimuli. An aversive stimulus is some sort of physical or mental discomfort. A response or behavior is strengthened when an individual knows that he will escape a negative outcome.    Example My mother has always told me to clean up the mess in my room before I leave for school. She has, at times, yelled at me when I left my room untidy. So, I knew that I have to clean up my room to escape the anger of my mother. In this example, my mom’s anger was the negative reinforcement or the negative outcome, which I avoided by correcting my behavior.    Positive Punishment Definition Positive punishment involves adding a negative outcome after a negative behavior is shown, to lessen the frequency of that negative behavior in the future.  Negative Consider a student whose mobile phone rings up when he is attending his favorite math class. His teacher reprimands him in front of his classmates and gives a lecture on the bad effects of using mobile phones during lectures. Since the student feels ashamed in front of his peers, he powers off his phone and makes up his mind to always switch it off during lectures. This way, his negative behavior is weakened by positive punishment.   Negative Punishment Positive Negative punishment involves taking away of some expected and desired outcomes after a negative behavior is shown. Negative punishment is also intended for weakening the negative behavior so that it does not happen again in the future.   Negative I remember fighting with my little brother over a video game. He wanted to play it first, while I was saying that since it was my idea, so I should play it first. We started yelling at each other, and each of us snatched the DVD from the other. My mom came in, and with an angry look, took the DVD away with her in the kitchen, and hid it somewhere. This is an example of taking away a desired object to correct a negative behavior, through negative punishment.   Read More