Positive Reinforcer and Reinforcement

A positive reinforcer is a stimulus that follows a behavior and results in the probability that the behavior will increase in the future.

The procedure of presenting a positive reinforcer following a behavior is called positive reinforcement. The psychological concept of reinforcement means the word in general use, that is, reinforcement means to strengthen. Thus, positive reinforcement strengthens the behavior-reinforcer connection.

The concept of positive is derived from mathematics and is not necessarily linked to feelings. That is, positive means a stimulus has been added as a contingency such that when a specific behavior occurs, the organism experiences the positive reinforcer and is likely to emit the same behavior again.

In symbols, a positive reinforcer is a stimulus with a plus sign thus, S+.

Positive reinforcers may be primary or secondary. A primary reinforcer is close to a natural reinforcer such as food and sleep. A secondary reinforcer may be points or money, which may be used to obtain a primary reinforcer.

Positive reinforcement is contrasted with  negative reinforcement.

Rewards vs. Reinforcers

Rewards may or may not function to increase behavior. For example, a restaurant business may offer a loyalty reward to customers hoping to increase return business; however, if the customer does not like the reward item, then the desired behavior has not been reinforced. In fact, the reward may function as punishment if the customer leaves for a better reward system.

Key words: Positive reinforcer, positive reinforcement, reinforcing stimulus, behavioral psychology, behavioral counseling, cognitive behavioral psychology

Example:

A child completes cleaning their room. A parent observes the activity and on completion adds a point to a weekly chart. After an agreed upon number of points, the child can exchange points for preferred activities. If cleaning behavior increases when points are earned then the points are positive reinforcers.

If the points do not work, they may be called neutral reinforcers. If the points result in a decrease in cleaning up behavior then the cleaning behavior has been punished by definition.

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