Positive and Negative Reinforcement; the real story
Many of you may be surprised to discover that what you think of as “positive and negative reinforcement” are not at all what mental health professionals, researchers and theorists are talking about. To many people, giving a child a lollypop as a reward is a positive reinforcement and a spanking is a negative reinforcement. In the world of professional psychology, these are both considered positive reinforcements. How is this? Because it has nothing to do with the reinforcement being desirable or undesirable. Positive reinforcement adds something new to the equation and negative reinforcement takes something away. When we talk about things the person finds desirable or undesirable, we use the terms “Appetitive” and “Aversive”, not Positive and Negative. A positive reinforcement could be giving a hug or giving a spanking. Both are adding something; One is Appetitive and one is Aversive. A negative reinforcement could be taking away a favorite toy or turning off your music station which your teen finds so…. “Lame”.
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