Positive and Negative Reinforcement

[Ready for Fall 2026]

Modified: 2026-08-03 11:01 AM CDST

• Positive reinforcement is when a response is followed by the addition of a stimulus, and then that response is more likely to recur.
  • For example, let's pretend we are in a classroom in the near future.
    • You raise your hand to ask a question, and a $20 bill appears from a slot in the desk top.
    • You ask another question, and $20 more appears.
    • Pretty soon, you find yourself asking more and more questions.
  • Here, the $20 has become a reinforcer because it increased your level of question asking.

• Negative reinforcement, on the other hand, is when a response is followed by the removal of a stimulus and then that response is more likely to recur.
  • Notice that negative reinforcement also makes the response more likely to recur.
  • Let's revisit that hypothetical classroom in the near future.
    • Now, when you sit in your desk, you are subjected to electric shock. Whenever you are in your desk you are being shocked.
    • One day you ask a question, and the shock disappears, briefly.
    • You ask another question, and it disappears briefly again.
    • Soon, you are asking a lot of questions.
  • Your question asking is also being reinforced, but now by the removal of a stimulus, or by negative reinforcement.
• In everyday life, nagging is one of the more common examples of negative reinforcement.
  • If someone nags at you, and then you perform some behavior, then the nagging stops, you may perform that behavior again when the nagging starts another time.
• Another example is carrying and using an umbrella.
  • When do you open the umbrella?
    • When it's raining
      • Why, it keeps you dry