Question

What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement? Is there a need to distinguish between the two? If so, what is the practicality of distinguishing the two forms of reinforcement? If not, what would be saved by eliminating the distinction?

Answer 1

• Reinforcement in general means anything which increases the likelihood that a behaviour will occur in the future.It can be positive and negative both.And the difference also exists between the two in terms of the stimulus and not in terms of the increase in likelihood of behaviour.Behaviour increases in both.
• Positive reinforcement means when a stimulus is provided in terms of a reward to increase the likelihood of the behavior to happen in the future.For example,a parent would give his child her favourite chocolate,if she scores well in her exams.This reward or reinforcer of chocolate,would motivate the child to study hard and score well in her tests in the future.
• Negative reinforcement means when an aversive stimulus is ignored or removed to increase the likelihood of the behaviour to occur in the future.For example,my mom keeps nagging me constantly to clean my room and eventually I got sick of it.So in order to stop my mom from nagging me again,I would start cleaning my room before she even starts,not giving her any chance to nag me.
• The nagging is the aversive stimulus ,which is removed by engaging in cleaning behaviour.The motivation to remove the negative stimulus increases the likelihood of the behaviour.
• So,in conclusion,in positive reinforcement,a positive stimulus is added,whereas in negative reinforcement,an unfavourable stimulus is removed to increase the occurrence of a behaviour.This difference is important to shape the behaviours of the individuals,therefore this difference is practical and logical.