These two tactics are referred to as “positive reinforcement” and “negative reinforcement,” respectively.įor the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on explaining what “negative reinforcement” is and how you can implement it. Another way to do this is by removing some aversive or undesirable stimulus (e.g., nagging) after they perform the behavior you want to encourage (e.g., doing their homework). One way to do this is by presenting them with a motivating or desirable stimulus (e.g., praise) after they perform the behavior you want to see (e.g., cleaning their room). There are two ways to go about encouraging - or reinforcing - certain behaviors that your child does. By adding or subtracting favorable or unfavorable consequences, you can then strengthen the behaviors you want (also known as “reinforcement”), and eliminate the behaviors you don’t (also known as “punishment”). Skinner, a behavioral psychologist who developed a theory of learning known as “ operant conditioning.” This theory asserts that we learn “good” and “bad” behaviors by creating associations between a behavior and the consequence(s) of that behavior. This concept was first introduced by B.F.

If you decide to try out either - or both - of these parenting techniques, it’s important that you first understand what they mean, what they do, and how you can incorporate this technique into your parenting style - and how your babysitter or nanny can incorporate it into their child care repertoire.įor now, we’ll focus on the concept of “negative reinforcement.” What Is “Reinforcement”?Īt a high level, “ reinforcement” is a process by which you encourage a particular behavior so that it happens more frequently in the future. And although the concepts of “reinforcement” and “punishment” are related in that they can influence your child’s behavior, they go about it in different ways - and with different results. You’ve probably heard terms like “negative reinforcement” and “positive reinforcement” thrown around a lot during the course of your parenting career.

Negative reinforcement