Topic > Key aspects of behaviorism: reinforcement and...

Reinforcement is a process that allows a behavior to be repeated in the future thanks to positive recognition. On the other hand, punishment is a process that prevents the repetition of certain behaviors due to negative consequences. Reinforcement is divided into two forms; positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement reinforces an individual's behavior thanks to encouraging or satisfying stimuli. Negative reinforcement is “an increase in behavior that results from the removal or avoidance of an aversive stimulus” (Pearson, chapter 6 page 222). Unlike reinforcement, punishment is designed to curb or discourage undesirable behavior. Punishment can also be divided into two categories; punishment of presentation and punishment of removal. These were supposed to have the opposite effect of positive and negative reinforcement. In fact, presentation punishment serves to decrease an individual's behavior by implementing a stimulus while removal punishment produced the same effect, but only after the stimulus has been removed (Pearson, chapter 6 page 222). Operant conditioning is evident in the video “Behaviorism in the Classroom.” in chapter 6 of Eggen and Kauchak (2016) on p