Positive reinforcement
Positive reinforcement occurs when a stimulus is added or presented right after a behavior and, as a result, that behavior becomes more likely in the future.
"Positive" means something is added, not that it is good or pleasant. If a stimulus is presented following a response and the response increases in the future, positive reinforcement has occurred. Common positive reinforcers in sessions include praise, tokens, edibles, toys, tablet time, high-fives, preferred activities and access to people.
In teaching, the RBT delivers the reinforcer immediately after the target response and only after that response, as the plan specifies. The type, amount and schedule matter: a reinforcer that is too small may not maintain responding, and one that is too large can cause satiation. Rotating several reinforcers (variety) and using what the client currently prefers help keep reinforcement effective. Pairing praise with other reinforcers helps praise become a reinforcer too.
Positive reinforcement also maintains many problem behaviors. Attention after a client swears, or a toy given after a tantrum, can positively reinforce those behaviors even when adults intend the opposite. Reprimands, for instance, can function as positive reinforcement for some clients. This is why the effect on behavior, not the adult's intention, decides whether positive reinforcement is happening.
Example and non-example
| Example | A student completes a worksheet and immediately receives 5 minutes with a favorite game; afterward the student completes worksheets more often. |
|---|---|
| Non-example | A student finishes a worksheet and is allowed to skip the next one, and worksheet completion increases. Removing a task is negative reinforcement. |
Don't confuse it with
| Negative reinforcement | Both increase behavior; positive reinforcement adds a stimulus, negative reinforcement removes one. |
|---|---|
| Positive punishment | Both add a stimulus; positive reinforcement increases behavior, positive punishment decreases it. |
Test yourself
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Question 1After a preference assessment, how are the top-ranked items usually used?
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C: As possible reinforcers, as the supervisor directs. The main use of results is choosing items to try as reinforcers in teaching and behavior plans, following the supervisor's directions.
- A: Withholding top items from sessions defeats the purpose of the assessment.
- B: The point is to use preferred items, not to remove them.
- D: Giving items noncontingently at the start is not the typical use and could reduce their value.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 2In applied behavior analysis, what makes a reinforcement procedure "positive"?
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D: A stimulus is added after the behavior, and the behavior increases in the future.. "Positive" means a stimulus is added (presented) after the behavior, and "reinforcement" means the behavior occurs more often in the future. It has nothing to do with whether the stimulus seems pleasant.
- A: Removing a stimulus and seeing the behavior increase is negative reinforcement.
- B: Adding a stimulus that makes the behavior decrease is positive punishment.
- C: Delivering a stimulus on a time schedule regardless of behavior is noncontingent reinforcement, not a contingent reinforcement procedure.
Task C.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 3A school-age client finishes a math worksheet, and the RBT immediately gives 5 minutes of tablet time, as the plan directs. Over the week, the client finishes worksheets more often. Which procedure is the RBT implementing?
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A: Positive reinforcement. Tablet time is added right after the worksheet is finished, and finishing worksheets increases. Adding a stimulus that increases the behavior it follows is positive reinforcement.
- B: Negative reinforcement removes a stimulus; here something is added.
- C: Negative punishment removes a stimulus and decreases behavior; here behavior increases.
- D: Noncontingent reinforcement is delivered on a time schedule, but here the tablet depends on finishing the worksheet.
Task C.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task C.1 Positive and negative reinforcement in content area C, Behavior Acquisition, which is 19 of the 75 scored questions.