1.
Misconceptions of Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement is commonly misunderstood because of
the term
negative
. Most people get it mixed up with punishment or think it refers
to an unwanted behavior being reinforced. In the science of
behavior analysis, the term
negative
refers to the fact that a stimulus is being removed after a
behavior. Remember, reinforcement is used to increase
behavior, so with negative reinforcement, a stimulus is removed
following a behavior to increase the frequency of the behavior
in the future. For example, when you connect your seat belt to
stop the annoying buzzing sound in your car, this is negative
reinforcement (the behavior of wearing a seat belt increases to
remove an aversive stimulus).
Explain the difference between the common misconception of
the term
negative reinforcement
and how the science of behavior analysis defines it. Why do
you think this misconception exists?
Provide three examples of negative reinforcement in ABC (three
term contingency) format. Explain why they are negative
reinforcement.
Provide three examples of positive reinforcement in ABC (three
term contingency) format. Explain why they are positive
reinforcement.