Editing Reinforcement (section)

==Operant conditioning==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2024}}
{{Main|Operant conditioning}}{{Operant conditioning}}
The term ''operant conditioning'' was introduced by Skinner to indicate that in his experimental paradigm, the organism is free to operate on the environment. In this paradigm, the experimenter cannot trigger the desirable response; the experimenter waits for the response to occur (to be emitted by the organism) and then a potential reinforcer is delivered. In the [[classical conditioning]] paradigm, the experimenter triggers (elicits) the desirable response by presenting a reflex eliciting stimulus, the ''unconditional stimulus'' (UCS), which they pair (precede) with a neutral stimulus, the ''conditional stimulus'' (CS).

''Reinforcement'' is a basic term in operant conditioning. For the punishment aspect of operant conditioning, see [[punishment (psychology)]].

===Positive reinforcement===

Positive reinforcement occurs when a [[reward system|desirable event or stimulus]] is presented as a consequence of a behavior and the chance that this behavior will manifest in similar environments increases.<ref name=Flora>{{cite book|last=Flora|first=Stephen | name-list-style = vanc |title=The Power of Reinforcement|year=2004|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany}}</ref>{{rp|253}}  For example, if reading a book is fun, then experiencing the fun  positively reinforces the behavior of reading fun books.  The person who receives the positive reinforcement (i.e., who has fun reading the book) will read more books to have more fun.

The [[high probability instruction]] (HPI) treatment is a [[behaviorist]] treatment based on the idea of positive reinforcement.
===Negative reinforcement===

Negative reinforcement increases the rate of a behavior that avoids or escapes an [[aversives|aversive situation or stimulus]].<ref name=Flora/>{{rp|252–253}} That is, something unpleasant is already happening, and the behavior helps the person avoid or escape the unpleasantness.  In contrast to positive reinforcement, which involves adding a pleasant stimulus, in negative reinforcement, the focus is on the removal of an unpleasant situation or stimulus.  For example, if someone feels unhappy, then they might engage in a behavior (e.g., reading books) to escape from the aversive situation (e.g., their unhappy feelings).<ref name="Flora" />{{rp|253}}  The success of that avoidant or escapist behavior in removing the unpleasant situation or stimulus reinforces the behavior.

Doing something unpleasant to people to prevent or remove a behavior from happening again is ''punishment'', not negative reinforcement.<ref name="Flora" />{{rp|252}} The main difference is that reinforcement always increases the likelihood of a behavior (e.g., [[channel surfing]] while bored temporarily alleviated boredom; therefore, there will be more channel surfing while bored), whereas punishment decreases it (e.g., [[hangovers]] are an unpleasant stimulus, so people learn to avoid the behavior that led to that unpleasant stimulus).

===Extinction===
Extinction occurs when a given behavior is ignored (i.e. followed up with no consequence).  Behaviors disappear over time when they continuously receive no reinforcement. During a deliberate extinction, the targeted behavior spikes first (in an attempt to produce the expected, previously reinforced effects), and then declines over time. Neither reinforcement nor extinction need to be deliberate in order to have an effect on a subject's behavior.  For example, if a child reads books because they are fun, then the parents' decision to ignore the book reading will not remove the positive reinforcement (i.e., fun) the child receives from reading books.  However, if a child engages in a behavior to get attention from the parents, then the parents' decision to ignore the behavior will cause the behavior to go extinct, and the child will find a different behavior to get their parents' attention. 
===Reinforcement versus punishment===
Reinforcers serve to increase behaviors whereas punishers serve to decrease behaviors; thus, positive reinforcers are stimuli that the subject will work to attain, and negative reinforcers are stimuli that the subject will work to be rid of or to end.<ref name="D'Amato">{{cite book | vauthors = D'Amato MR |title=Learning Processes: Instrumental Conditioning|year=1969|publisher=The Macmillan Company|location=Toronto| veditors = Marx MH }}</ref> The table below illustrates the adding and subtracting of stimuli (pleasant or aversive) in relation to reinforcement vs. punishment.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Comparison chart
|-
! !! [[Reward system|Rewarding]] (pleasant) stimulus
! [[Aversives|Aversive]] (unpleasant) stimulus
|-
! Positive (adding a stimulus)
| Positive reinforcement<blockquote>Example: Reading a book because it is fun and interesting</blockquote>
| Positive punishment<blockquote>Example: Telling someone that their actions are inconsiderate<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Leaf |first=Justin B. |last2=Cihon |first2=Joseph H. |last3=Leaf |first3=Ronald |last4=McEachin |first4=John |last5=Liu |first5=Nicholas |last6=Russell |first6=Noah |last7=Unumb |first7=Lorri |last8=Shapiro |first8=Sydney |last9=Khosrowshahi |first9=Dara |date=June 2022 |title=Concerns About ABA-Based Intervention: An Evaluation and Recommendations |url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9114057/ |journal=Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |volume=52 |issue=6 |pages=2838–2853 |doi=10.1007/s10803-021-05137-y |issn=1573-3432 |pmc=9114057 |pmid=34132968 |quote=Punishment, from a behavior analytic perspective, describes any context in which a response is followed by an event (i.e., stimulus change) that results in a decrease in the probability of similar responses in similar situations.... Absent from this definition are things like pain, fear, discomfort, and the like. Suppose a person parks their car taking up two spaces and a passerby comments, “That’s inconsiderate.” If the probability of taking up two spaces while parking subsequently decreases, we can reasonably presume that punishment occurred.}}</ref></blockquote>
|-
! Negative (taking a stimulus away)
| Negative punishment<blockquote>Example: Loss of privileges (e.g., [[screen time]] or permission to attend a desired event) if a rule is broken</blockquote>
| Negative reinforcement<blockquote>Example: Reading a book because it allows the reader to escape feelings of boredom or unhappiness</blockquote>
|}


===Further ideas and concepts===

* Distinguishing between positive and negative reinforcement can be difficult and may not always be necessary. Focusing on what is being removed or added and how it affects behavior can be more helpful.
* An event that punishes behavior for some may reinforce behavior for others.
* Some reinforcement can include both positive and negative features, such as a drug addict taking drugs for the added euphoria (positive reinforcement) and also to eliminate withdrawal symptoms (negative reinforcement).
* Reinforcement in the business world is essential in driving productivity. Employees are constantly motivated by the ability to receive a positive stimulus, such as a promotion or a bonus. Employees are also driven by negative reinforcement, such as by eliminating unpleasant tasks.
* Though negative reinforcement has a positive effect in the short term for a workplace (i.e. encourages a financially beneficial action), over-reliance on a negative reinforcement hinders the ability of workers to act in a creative, engaged way creating growth in the long term.<ref name="Harter">{{cite book| vauthors = Harter JK | title=Well-Being in the Workplace and its Relationship to Business Outcomes: A Review of the Gallup Studies|year=2002|publisher=American Psychological Association|location=Washington D.C.| veditors = Keyes CL  | url = http://media.gallup.com/documents/whitePaper--Well-BeingInTheWorkplace.pdf }}</ref>

===Primary and secondary reinforcers<span class="anchor" id="Conditioned reinforcer"></span>===

A ''primary reinforcer'', sometimes called an ''unconditioned reinforcer'', is a stimulus that does not require [[associative learning|pairing with a different stimulus]] in order to function as a reinforcer and most likely has obtained this function through the evolution and its role in species' survival.<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1974). About Behaviorism</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2024}} Examples of primary reinforcers include food, water, and sex. Some primary reinforcers, such as certain drugs, may mimic the effects of other primary reinforcers. While these primary reinforcers are fairly stable through life and across individuals, the reinforcing value of different primary reinforcers varies due to multiple factors (e.g., genetics, experience). Thus, one person may prefer one type of food while another avoids it. Or one person may eat much food while another eats very little. So even though food is a primary reinforcer for both individuals, the value of food as a reinforcer differs between them.

A ''secondary reinforcer'', sometimes called a '''conditioned reinforcer'''<!--Redirected here - bolded per MOS:BOLD-->, is a stimulus or situation that has acquired its function as a reinforcer after [[associative learning|pairing with a stimulus]] that functions as a reinforcer. This stimulus may be a primary reinforcer or another conditioned reinforcer (such as money). 

When trying to distinguish primary and secondary reinforcers in human examples, use the "caveman test." If the stimulus is something that a caveman would naturally find desirable (e.g. candy) then it is a primary reinforcer. If, on the other hand, the caveman would not react to it (e.g. a dollar bill), it is a secondary reinforcer. As with primary reinforcers, an organism can experience satisfaction and deprivation with secondary reinforcers.

===Other reinforcement terms===

* A generalized reinforcer is a conditioned reinforcer that has obtained the reinforcing function by pairing with many other reinforcers and functions as a reinforcer under a wide-variety of [[motivating operation]]s. (One example of this is money because it is paired with many other reinforcers).<ref name=Miltenberger>Miltenberger, R. G. "Behavioral Modification: Principles and Procedures". [[Thomson/Wadsworth]], 2008.</ref>{{rp|83}}
* In reinforcer sampling, a potentially reinforcing but unfamiliar stimulus is presented to an organism without regard to any prior behavior.
* Socially-mediated reinforcement involves the delivery of reinforcement that requires the behavior of another organism. For example, another person is providing the reinforcement.
* The [[Premack principle]] is a special case of reinforcement elaborated by [[David Premack]], which states that a highly preferred activity can be used effectively as a reinforcer for a less-preferred activity.<ref name=Miltenberger/>{{rp|123}}
* Reinforcement hierarchy is a list of actions, rank-ordering the most desirable to least desirable consequences that may serve as a reinforcer. A reinforcement hierarchy can be used to determine the relative frequency and desirability of different activities, and is often employed when applying the Premack principle.{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}}
* Contingent outcomes are more likely to reinforce behavior than non-contingent responses. Contingent outcomes are those directly linked to a [[causal]] behavior, such a light turning on being contingent on flipping a switch. Note that contingent outcomes are ''not'' necessary to demonstrate reinforcement, but perceived contingency may increase learning.
* Contiguous stimuli are stimuli closely associated by time and space with specific behaviors. They reduce the amount of time needed to learn a behavior while increasing its resistance to [[extinction (psychology)|extinction]]. {{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} Giving a dog a piece of food immediately after sitting is more contiguous with (and therefore more likely to reinforce) the behavior than a several minute delay in food delivery following the behavior.
* Noncontingent reinforcement refers to response-independent delivery of stimuli identified as reinforcers for some behaviors of that organism. However, this typically entails time-based delivery of stimuli identified as maintaining aberrant behavior, which decreases the rate of the target behavior.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tucker M, Sigafoos J, Bushell H | title = Use of noncontingent reinforcement in the treatment of challenging behavior. A review and clinical guide | journal = Behavior Modification | volume = 22 | issue = 4 | pages = 529–47 | date = October 1998 | pmid = 9755650 | doi = 10.1177/01454455980224005 | s2cid = 21542125 }}</ref> As no measured behavior is identified as being strengthened, there is controversy surrounding the use of the term noncontingent "reinforcement".<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Droleskey RE, Andrews K, Chiarantini L, DeLoach JR | chapter = Use of fluorescent probes for describing the process of encapsulation by hypotonic dialysis | series = Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology| volume = 326 | pages = 73–80 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4615-3030-5_9| pmid = 1284187 | title = The Use of Resealed Erythrocytes as Carriers and Bioreactors | year = 1992 | isbn = 978-1-4613-6321-7 }}</ref>