4. Example of positive reinforcement:
Vishesh and Suraj were two mentally disabled boys who
seldom smiled at other people. Dr. Hopkins used a procedure in
which he would take them for walks, and if they smiled at
passers by, he would give them some pieces of M & M's candy.
This procedure caused Vishesh and Suraj to smile much more
often than they had before.
Non-example of positive reinforcement:
Vishesh and Suraj were two mentally disabled boys who
seldom smiled at other people. Dr. Hopkins used a procedure in
which he would take them for walks, and if they smiled at
passers by, he would give them some pieces of M & M's candy.
Vishesh and Suraj ate the candy quickly.
6. NEGATIVE
REINFORCEMENT
Nandan’s morning alarm goes off at 5:00am. He
hates this noise and reaches over and hits the STOP
button which stops the alarm noise. He does this
every morning when his alarm goes off.
Turning off your morning alarm is an example of
negative reinforcement.
Why is this negative reinforcement? The alarm
goes off and it’s a pretty annoying noise for Nandan.
He always hits the STOP button when the alarm goes
off so negative reinforcement is occurring.
7. CONCLUSION
Positive and negative reinforcement both call
attention to a situation. For many, negative
attention is more desirable than no attention.
Negative reinforcement is generally quicker than
positive, yet the positive is so very important for
development including self esteem.