Editing Reinforcement (section)

===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>
|}