What is positive reinforcement?

What is positive reinforcement?

• A. Punishing a behavior
• B. Reinforcing good behavior with a pleasant stimulus
• C. Ignoring a behavior
• D. Removing a pleasant stimulus

Answer: (B)

Positive reinforcement means adding something desirable after a behavior to make it more likely to occur again. In training a working dog, when the dog performs a desired action and you immediately give a treat, praise, or a favorite toy, the dog learns that the action brings a reward, so it tends to repeat that behavior. The key is the addition of a positive outcome to strengthen the behavior. The other options involve removing or delivering something unpleasant to suppress or alter behavior, rather than strengthening it. Punishment introduces an aversive consequence to reduce actions; ignoring a behavior with no reinforcement lets it fade; removing a pleasant stimulus is a form of punishment or negative consequence, not reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement means adding something desirable after a behavior to make it more likely to occur again. In training a working dog, when the dog performs a desired action and you immediately give a treat, praise, or a favorite toy, the dog learns that the action brings a reward, so it tends to repeat that behavior. The key is the addition of a positive outcome to strengthen the behavior.

The other options involve removing or delivering something unpleasant to suppress or alter behavior, rather than strengthening it. Punishment introduces an aversive consequence to reduce actions; ignoring a behavior with no reinforcement lets it fade; removing a pleasant stimulus is a form of punishment or negative consequence, not reinforcement.