Negative reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement is a strategy that ensures prevention of negative affect, such as deciding to take an antacid before you indulge in a spicy meal. Commonly those issues are caused by an improvement[1].
Characteristics
A standout amongst the most ideal approaches to recall negative support is to consider it something being subtracted from the circumstance. In negative fortification, a reaction or conduct is reinforced by halting, expelling, or staying away from a negative result or aversive boost. Aversive upgrades will in general include some sort of uneasiness, either physical or mental. Practices are contrarily strengthened when they enable you to escape from aversive improvements that are now present or enable you to totally maintain a strategic distance from the aversive upgrades before they occur[2].
Negative Reinforcement vs. Punishment
One mistake that people often make is confusing negative reinforcement with punishment. Remember, however, that negative reinforcement involves the removal of a negative condition to strengthen a behavior. Punishment, on the other hand, involves either presenting or taking away a stimulus to weaken a behavior. Below is an example of the difference between Negative Reinforcement and Punishment[3]:
- Timmy is supposed to clean his room every Saturday morning. Last weekend, he went out to play with his friend without cleaning his room. As a result, his father made him spend the rest of the weekend doing other chores like cleaning out the garage, mowing the lawn, and weeding the garden, in addition to cleaning his room.
If you said that this was an example of punishment, then you are correct. Because Timmy didn't clean his room, his father punished him by having to do extra chores.
Examples of Negative Reinforcement
Learn more by looking at the following examples[4]:
- Before heading out for a day at the beach, you slather on sunscreen (the behavior) to avoid getting sunburned (removal of the aversive stimulus).
- You decide to clean up your mess in the kitchen (the behavior) to avoid getting into a fight with your roommate (removal of the aversive stimulus).
- On Monday morning, you leave the house early (the behavior) to avoid getting stuck in traffic and being late for work (removal of an aversive stimulus).
- At dinner time, a child pouts and refuses to each the vegetables on her plate. Her parents quickly take the offending veggies away. Since the behavior (pouting) led to the removal of the aversive stimulus (the veggies).
Advantages of Negative reinforcement
Negative reinforcement has many advantages, such as:
- Encouraging desirable behavior by removing an unpleasant consequence. This allows an individual to associate a positive outcome with the desired behavior, thus making it more likely that the behavior will be repeated.
- Strengthening the bond between an individual and a behavior. By removing an unpleasant consequence, an individual is likely to feel more positively about the behavior.
- Promoting self-control and the ability to make decisions. Negative reinforcement helps individuals learn to anticipate the consequences of their behavior and make decisions based on those expectations.
- Increasing the efficacy of other behavioral strategies. By providing an immediate reward or consequence for a behavior, negative reinforcement can be used to reinforce other more complex behavior strategies.
Limitations of Negative reinforcement
Negative reinforcement is a behavior modification technique that can be used to reduce unwanted behaviors; however, it does have its limitations.
- Negative reinforcement relies on the use of aversive stimuli to discourage behaviors, which can lead to anxiety and fear. This can be especially problematic for children, who are more sensitive to fear-inducing stimuli.
- Negative reinforcement can be difficult to implement correctly, as the aversive stimulus needs to be strong enough to discourage the unwanted behavior but not so powerful that it causes distress or long-term harm.
- Negative reinforcement can also have unintended consequences. For example, if the punishment is too severe, it may lead to avoidance behavior, where the person simply stops engaging in the desired activity altogether.
- Finally, negative reinforcement can lead to a feeling of powerlessness on the part of the individual. This can lead to a sense of learned helplessness, where the individual feels that they have no control over their own behavior.
Negative reinforcement is a strategy used to prevent undesired behavior or experiences. Other approaches related to negative reinforcement include:
- Extinction - This is when a behavior is ignored or not reinforced, which leads to the behavior being extinguished.
- Time Out - This is when a person is removed from a certain situation or environment in order to allow them to calm down and refocus.
- Token Economy - This is a system where people receive rewards, such as tokens, for exhibiting desired behaviors.
- Social Reinforcement - This is when people are reinforced with verbal praise or positive reinforcement from others.
In summary, negative reinforcement is a strategy used to prevent undesired behavior or experiences. Other approaches related to this strategy include extinction, time out, token economy, and social reinforcement.
Footnotes
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| Negative reinforcement — recommended articles |
| Acquired needs theory — Principal agent problem — Peter pan syndrome — Motivation — Residual disability — Dimensions of stress — Negative motivation — Group conformity — Behavioral theory |
References
- Bellack.A.S.,Hersen.M.,Kazdin.A.E.,(2012) International Handbook of Behavior Modification And Therapy , Plenum Press New York, p 71
- Bergin.C.C.,Bergin.D.A.,(2011) Child and Adolescent Development in Your Classroom , Copyright Language E-learning, p 88
- Flora.S.R.,(2012) Power of Reinforcment ,State University of New York Press, p 253.
Author: Bohdan Zaporozhchenko
