AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Remember that reinforcement, even when it is negative, always increases a behavior. In contrast, punishment always decreases a behavior. In positive punishment, you add an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior. An example of positive punishment is scolding a student to get the student to stop texting in class.

Detailed explanation-2: -Since reinforcement focuses on increasing a desired behavior and punishment focuses on reducing an unwanted behavior but does not teach a replacement for it, it is typically recommended to use positive reinforcement when trying to make a behavior change.

Detailed explanation-3: -The main difference between reinforcement and punishment is that reinforcement makes a target behavior more likely to happen again while punishment makes the behavior less likely to happen again. Reinforcement and punishment are often used as parenting tools to modify children’s behavior.

Detailed explanation-4: -B. F. Skinner demonstrated that behavior could be shaped through reinforcement and/or punishment. Skinner noted that a reinforcer is a consequence that increases the likelihood of behavior to recur, while punishment is a consequence that decreases the chance. Positive and negative are used in mathematical terms.

Detailed explanation-5: -Negative reinforcement increases the target behavior by taking away something aversive. Negative punishment decreases the target behavior by taking away something preferred.