Difference Between Positive and Negative Reinforcement

Positive vs Negative Reinforcement

Reinforcement means to increase the force, to strengthen. When we hear of reinforcement in a war, we know that either more troops or supplies like weapons are being increased. In psychology, reinforcement is a word used to imply any stimulus that increases the likelihood of a specific behavior. However, there are concepts of positive and negative reinforcements that confuse many as they feel that negative reinforcement is more of a punishment. This article attempts to find out the differences between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement to be better able to tackle with the problem of behavior correction at the office or home.

Positive Reinforcement

Suppose you want your dog to sit when you give him a command for this purpose. If you give him his favorite dog biscuit every time he obeys you, you are trying to reinforce sitting reaction as the dog eventually learns that sitting in response to your command will get him a biscuit.

我们不知道，我们正在利用积极加强的原则。我们让我们的孩子以这种方式学习很多东西。我们非常好或出色的反应足以使孩子兴奋和快乐，并可能重复行为。同样，当您的老板赞扬您在项目中的努力时，您会为此感到高兴，并尝试保持相同的性能。如果您获得奖金或加薪，则可以作为积极的加强，以提高办公室表现良好的可能性。因此，像母亲的糖果一样的奖励或老师的赞美通常被认为是积极的强化，以增加行为的可能性。

Negative Reinforcement

Taking away something negative also works as a reinforcement and increases the likelihood of a behavior. Take this example. David’s mother was always nagging about David not giving the garbage to the garbage truck which comes every week. Fed up with listening to all the curse every week, David gets up and gives the garbage to the garbage collecting truck. To his amazement, his mother does not nag. This means that the nagging, which he did not like got removed with his behavior, and that will increase the likelihood of repeating the behavior. Elimination of a negative stimulus is the basic principle behind negative reinforcement, and it should not be confused with punishment.

We all are used to heavy traffic when returning from home every evening. One day we finish the work early and get a chance to leave for home early. To our surprise, we find that the traffic is light, and we drive easily. This will have the effect of making you finish the work early to get a better driving experience as negative stimulus of heavy traffic is removed.

Positive Reinforcement vs Negative Reinforcement

•积极强化的原则easily understood by most of us as we are aware of the process of praise and rewards in our daily lives.

• It is the use of the word negative that confuses many when trying to understand negative reinforcement. Punishment is meant to decrease the likelihood of a behavior while negative reinforcement tries to increase the likelihood of a behavior by removing a negative stimulus.