Some of the most common tools parents and teachers use for managing children’s behaviors are rewards and punishments. While these methods tend to lose effectiveness as a child ages, there are times ...

Negative reinforcement encourages specific behaviors by removing or avoiding negative consequences or stimuli. It is different than punishment, which aims to discourage a specific behavior. Negative ...

Positive punishment is a form of behavior modification. In this case, the word “positive” doesn’t refer to something pleasant. Positive punishment is adding something to the mix that will result in an ...

A "punisher" is defined as an event that follows a given response and reduces the future rate of that behavior. For example, if a child has their video game taken away for not completing their ...

Another one of my pet peeves is the fact that many people – civilians and scientists alike – use the phrase “negative reinforcement” to mean “punishment.” The two are not at all the same; in fact, ...

Positive punishment means giving an undesirable consequence after an unwanted behavior to make it less appealing. It aims to stop the behavior from happening again. However, long term, there may be a ...