The main difference between reinforcement and punishment is that reinforcement makes a target behavior more likely to happen again while punishment makes the behavior less likely to happen again. Show
Reinforcement and punishment are often used as parenting tools to modify children’s behavior. Let’s review the difference between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement, and the difference in outcomes between them.  Table of Contents
The Difference Between Positive And Negative ReinforcementIn behavioral psychology, reinforcement is the introduction of a favorable condition that will make the desired behavior more likely to happen, continue or strengthen in the future1. Because the favorable condition acts as a reward, reinforcement is a reward-based operant conditioning. There are two types of reinforcement: positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. These two types of reinforcement can be confusing because the technical terms used in psychology is often misrepresented in pop culture. As technical parlance, positive refers to adding a factor while negative refers to removing a factor. But positive and negative do not represent the quality of the factor being added or removed. That factor can be pleasant or unpleasant. For instance, positive can be adding something unpleasant resulting in unpleasant feelings, while negative can be removing something unpleasant resulting in pleasant feelings. So, remember that positive and negative refer to adding and removing something, not to the quality of the added/removed factor or the resulted feelings. Related: Classical Vs Operant Conditioning What is positive and negative reinforcementThe 2 types of reinforcement are:
Positive ReinforcementPositive reinforcement is adding a pleasant stimulus to enhance a behavior. Here are some positive reinforcement examples. Positive Reinforcement ExamplesPleasant StimulusDesired BehaviorA mother gives her daughter a toy for doing homework.toydo homeworkA father praises his son for practicing soccer.praisepractice soccer Negative ReinforcementNegative reinforcement is removing an aversive stimulus to enhance a behavior. Here are some negative reinforcement examples. Negative Reinforcement ExamplesAversive StimulusDesired BehaviorTo stop his mother’s nagging, Alex does his chores.naggingdo choresTo remove the bad smell from her body, Erin takes a shower.bad smelltake a showerPositive Punishment vs Negative PunishmentWhile the goal of reinforcement is to reinforce the desired behavior, the goal of punishment is to make an undesired behavior less likely to happen, continue or strengthen in the future. As with reinforcement, the technical meanings of positive and negative punishment refer to adding or removing a factor to obtain the results. They do not refer to the quality or impact of the punishment. What Is Positive And Negative PunishmentThe 2 types of punishment are:
Positive PunishmentPositive punishment is adding an aversive stimulus to deter a behavior. Positive Punishment ExamplesAversive StimulusUndesired BehaviorMom gives Mag additional chores for lying.additional choreslyingJon was assigned extra homework because he was late to school.extra homeworkbe late for schoolNegative PunishmentNegative punishment is removing a pleasant stimulus to deter a behavior. Negative Punishment ExamplesPleasant StimulusUndesired BehaviorMary’s tv time was cut by 20 minutes because she did not listen to her Mom.tv timedid not listenJack was grounded for talking back.go outtalk backReinforcement vs PunishmentBoth reinforcement and punishment can modify behavior. The difference between them is that reinforcement aims to increase target behavior while punishment aims to decrease behavior. These definitions differ from the way we use it in daily life. Normally, we use “reinforce” in a speech to mean “emphasize”, while “punish” to mean “hurting”. Here are the definitions and difference of reinforcement and punishment in psychology: Add / RemoveStimulusBehaviorPositive Reinforcementaddpleasantenhance desiredNegative Reinforcementremoveaversiveenhance desiredPositive Punishmentaddaversivedeter undesiredNegative Punishmentremovepleasantdeter undesired Often times, decreasing an undesired behavior can also be achieved by increasing another desired behavior. For example, both punishing for being late for school and rewarding for being on time can incentivize a child to be on time. Because of the negative side effects of punishment (in the traditional sense, i.e. introducing unpleasant stimulus), parents should practice positive parenting. However, parents should also be careful not to overuse reinforcements because too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Schedules of ReinforcementReinforcement and punishment are usually applied more than once to establish a new behavior. When and how stimuli are applied are called schedules of reinforcement2. There are 4 types of simple schedules:
Different types of reinforcing schedules generate different results. Among the four simple schedules, variable ratio schedule generates responses that are most resistant to extinction. References
About Pamela Li, MS, MBA Pamela Li is a bestselling author. She is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Parenting For Brain. Her educational background is in Electrical Engineering (MS, Stanford University) and Business Management (MBA, Harvard University). Learn more What are the difference and similarities between positive and negative reinforcement?Differences Between Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement involves adding a stimulus to improve the likelihood of the desired behavior occurring. Conversely, negative reinforcement increases the probability of the desired behavior by removing an aversive stimulus that the person wants to avoid.
What are the similarities and differences between positive and negative reinforcement quizlet?Positive and negative reinforcement are similar in that both lead to an increase in responding; they differ in that positive reinforcement involves contingent stimulus presentation, whereas negative reinforcement involves contingent stimulus termination.
What is the difference between positive reinforcement negative reinforcement and positive and negative punishment?Positive reinforcement increases the target behavior by adding something preferred (good). Positive punishment decreases the target behavior by adding something aversive (bad). Negative reinforcement increases the target behavior by taking away something aversive.
What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement in the classroom?The goal of positive reinforcement is to encourage positive student behaviors by giving a gift, whereas negative reinforcement seeks to encourage positive student behavior by removing a negative condition.
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