What does positive reinforcement mean?

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By Nathalie Boutros, Ph.D.
​Reviewed by Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.

Learn what positive reinforcement is, how positive reinforcement impacts your life, and how to harness this powerful principle to improve your life and the lives of others.

*This page may include affiliate links; that means we earn from qualifying purchases of products.

Do you find yourself checking your social media feeds, visiting the vending machine, or clicking “add to cart” more often than you’d like? Do you wonder why you continue to do these things despite wanting to cut back? You might be spending too much time online, eating unhealthy snacks, or overspending because all of these behaviors are followed by positive reinforcement.

In this article, we’ll define positive reinforcement, review the ways that positive reinforcement may impact your life, and outline how you might be able to use principles of positive reinforcement to effect change in your life.  

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Positive reinforcement is the process of increasing the future probability of some behavior by following that behavior with a pleasant or desirable consequence (Scott et al, 2017). In other words, positive reinforcement is when you act or behave in a certain way, get something that you like, and then become more likely to act or behave in that way again. When you log in to Instagram and see that your latest post has received a lot of likes and comments, you may find yourself checking Instagram more often. Similarly, when you visit the vending machine and get a delicious snack, you may find yourself making more trips to the vending machine.

Not every instance of an act being followed by a pleasant consequence qualifies as positive reinforcement. Central to the definition of positive reinforcement is an increase in the future likelihood of the behavior that came right before the consequence. It's no accident that the term “reinforce”, with its alternative meaning of strengthening, is used. In positive reinforcement, the behavior is strengthened by the reinforcer.

In this short clip from the TV comedy series “The Big Bang Theory”, one character, somewhat unethically, uses positive reinforcement to increase behaviors that he wants to see more of in his friend.

Positive reinforcement describes the process of increasing the future incidence of some response or behavior by following that behavior with an enjoyable consequence. The consequence is sometimes called a “positive reinforcer” or more simply a “reinforcer”. Behavior-increasing consequences are also sometimes called “rewards”.

Almost anything can be a positive reinforcer, and the items that will be effective reinforcers for one person may not be effective for another person. For example, a workplace incentive program that rewards employees with gift certificates to a steakhouse is unlikely to increase productivity in vegetarian employees.

Some items and experiences like food, sex, warmth, and social approval may be hard-wired to be reinforcers. These types of reinforcers are often called “unconditioned reinforcers” because they can strengthen behavior without any training or specific experience. Other reinforcers like money, name brands, and other markers of social status are examples of conditioned reinforcers. These are rewards that acquire their ability to increase behavior, usually through association with another reinforcer (Williams, 1994).

Does behavior always involve positive reinforcement?
​Behavior often occurs in the absence of positive reinforcement. For example, you may check your social media feeds often, but only sometimes get rewarded with new comments and likes. Why then does the behavior of checking your feeds persist? 

Decades of psychological research have found that intermittent schedules of reinforcement are extremely effective at maintaining behavior (Jenkins and Stanley, 1950). In an intermittent schedule of reinforcement, rewards only follow a proportion of the behaviors; many occurrences of the behavior are not followed by the reward. 

Intermittent schedules of reinforcement often produce behavior that is very resilient and difficult to eradicate. Gambling is a classic example of behavior that is only intermittently reinforced and that is notoriously difficult to eradicate. Online slot machines reportedly only pay out between 20-25 percent of the time (Hoffman, 2021). This infrequent, intermittent reinforcement ensures that players keep playing, even as they continue to lose.

In 1911 Psychologist E.L. Thorndike articulated the “law of effect” which states in part that if a response or activity is followed by a “satisfying state of affairs”, then that response or activity will be more likely to be repeated in the future (Nevin, 1999). In 1938 this idea was further expanded by Psychologist B.F. Skinner, who applied the label of “positive reinforcer” to Thorndike’s “satisfying state of affairs”. In Skinner’s view, a stimulus is defined as a positive reinforcer based solely on the effect that it has on the immediately preceding behavior. If the behavior increases or becomes more likely, then the stimulus is a reinforcer. If the behavior decreases or becomes less likely, then the stimulus is a punisher.

The foundational principle of operant conditioning is the three-term contingency consisting of – antecedent-behavior-consequence (Skinner, 1938).

• Antecedent – The signal that a particular response will lead to a particular consequence. In the absence of this signal, the response is less likely to be followed by the consequence. For example, the music played by the ice cream truck as it drives through the neighborhood is a signal that running outside with money will probably lead to ice cream. When there is no ice cream truck music, running outside with money is very unlikely to lead to ice cream.
  
• Behavior – The action that produces the consequence and that is either increased or decreased in the future. All behaviors, both simple and complex, are subject to control by their antecedents and consequences. For example, a dog’s sitting behavior may become more likely if preceded by the command to sit (the antecedent) and followed by a treat (the consequence).
  
• Consequence – The item or sensation that follows the behavior and that makes future incidences of that behavior more or less likely. Reinforcement increases the future probability of the preceding behavior, while punishment decreases the future probability of the preceding behavior. State control happens largely through punishment rather than through reinforcement. A speeding ticket is a punishment for the behavior of driving 35 miles per hour in a 25 MPH zone. After getting a speeding ticket, you’ll probably be less likely to speed when you see speed limit signs.
  

Operant approaches to psychology distinguish between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. In both positive and negative reinforcement, a behavior occurs, a consequence follows, and the behavior becomes more likely to happen again in the future. What distinguishes positive and negative reinforcement is that in positive reinforcement the consequence is something that is given or added while in negative reinforcement the consequence is something that is removed or taken away. 

Usually, the thing that is removed in negative reinforcement is something unpleasant, painful or annoying. For example, if putting on noise-canceling headphones is followed by a reduction in the intensity of annoying, unpleasant, or distracting background noise, you may thereafter become more likely to use the headphones. The reinforcement in this case was not the addition of anything pleasant but was the removal of something unpleasant.

Examples of both positive and negative reinforcement 
Both positive and negative reinforcement are involved in drug and alcohol addiction (Baker et al, 2004). Initially, taking the drug may produce positive feelings such as euphoria. This state of euphoria is the positive reinforcement that may cause the continuation and escalation of drug-use behavior. Continued use of the drug may lead to a state of dependency, in which not taking the drug for some time leads to feelings of craving or withdrawal. When the drug is then taken, these unpleasant feelings of craving and withdrawal are removed and diminished. In this state of addiction, the drug-taking behavior may no longer be primarily maintained by positive emotions and feelings but is instead primarily maintained by the removal or diminishment of negative emotions and feelings.

You may have experienced a transition from behavior maintained by positive reinforcement to behavior maintained by negative reinforcement if you are a long-term coffee drinker. Positive reinforcement may have initially driven your coffee-drinking behavior. You may have enjoyed the burst of energy that followed a cup of coffee, and therefore increased your coffee consumption. However, after many years of drinking coffee, your coffee drinking may now be primarily maintained by negative reinforcement. You may seek out that cup of coffee primarily to remove or reduce feelings of tiredness and grogginess.

Positive reinforcement is one way that adults signal to children the behaviors that are expected in our culture and in our society (Sigler and Aamidor, 2005). Positive reinforcement does not have to be intentionally given to be effective. For example, when you engage a child in an interesting and enjoyable conversation while that child is showing appropriate dinner-time behaviors such as correctly using utensils, chewing with a closed mouth, speaking at an acceptable volume, and remaining seated, you are using positive reinforcement. Attention and social engagement are the positive reinforcers for the appropriate meal-time behaviors. 

When the child shows inappropriate behavior, for example by standing on the chair, throwing food, and shouting, the enjoyable social engagement is probably removed. In the absence of reinforcement, these inappropriate behaviors should decrease while the more appropriate behaviors that are followed by reinforcement, should increase. For most children, these incidental instances of positive reinforcement experienced in the course of daily living will probably be mostly sufficient to ensure the eventual development of behaviors that are appropriate to the culture and society that the child is growing up in.

Some children, perhaps due to developmental disorders or environmental factors, may not develop culturally and socially appropriate behaviors in response to the incidentally-received reinforcement of daily living. For these children, positive reinforcement for desirable behaviors may need to be deliberate. The discipline of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the systematic application of behavioral principles to clinically and socially relevant behaviors (Roane et al, 2016). It is one of the most popular interventions for use with children diagnosed with autism, who may show deficits in socially and developmentally appropriate behaviors such as language and interpersonal engagement. Rather than being a specific set of procedures, ABA is an approach that is tailored to the needs of each individual. 

Central to the ABA approach is the understanding that behavior that is followed by reinforcement will increase. The particular reinforcers that will be effective may differ from child to child and ABA supports the use of potentially idiosyncratic reinforcers, so long as they are effective (Roane et al, 1998). Similarly, the behavior that is targeted for increase will also differ according to the needs of the individual child and family. For example, a child who is about to start school may need explicit positive reinforcement to teach him or her to attend to a teacher. Another child may need positive reinforcement to encourage use of the potty.

Positive reinforcement maintains much of adult behavior. Examples include:

• Drug and alcohol use – Positive reinforcement is often involved in drug and alcohol addiction. For example, tobacco use may lead to feelings of mild euphoria, increased energy, reduced stress and anxiety, appetite suppression, and feelings of relaxation (Watkins et al., 2000). All of these pleasant sensations experienced after smoking a cigarette may be so powerful that they compel people to continue to smoke despite negative health effects and even despite significant efforts to stop smoking.
  
• Social media or screens – Many people report that they spend more time than they would like on social media. If this is the case, your social media feed is probably a source of positive reinforcement. The behavior of checking your social media is positively reinforced by comments and likes on your posts, entertaining stories or images, updates on your friends and acquaintances’ statuses, and all of the other engaging content that exists on your screen. Your desire to spend less time on social media may not be strong enough to counteract the powerful influence of all of this positive reinforcement (Newport, 2019).
  

Positive reinforcement is present in the classroom, regardless of whether or not it is intentionally incorporated. Reinforcement is defined by its effects on the preceding behavior. If a consequence is given and the behavior increases, then that consequence is a positive reinforcer, regardless of whether that consequence seems to have been enjoyed. This may be particularly relevant when considering the reinforcing value of negative attention. 

Imagine a child seated in the back of the classroom, not receiving any attention from peers or the teacher. When this child engages in disruptive behavior, the teacher may reprimand the disruptive child. This attention, albeit negative and not even necessarily enjoyed by the child, may increase future incidences of disruptive behavior (Partin et al, 2010).

Knowing what reinforcers are maintaining the problem behavior may help you to create effective classroom interventions. For example, it may be productive to teach the disruptive child more appropriate attention-seeking behaviors such as raising his or her hand. In this example, the reinforcement was not the problem, the behavior that was being used to access the reinforcement was the problem (i.e., the disruptive behavior). Solving the problem may be a case of identifying a more appropriate behavior to access the same reinforcer.

Positive reinforcement versus punishment​

A better strategy may be to use positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement can be applied on a whole-group basis, for example to an entire class. In group contingencies, a group of students receives a reward contingent on some aspect of the group’s behavior (Kelshaw-Levering et al., 2000). For example, the entire class may get an extra 10 minutes of recess if all students finish their work on time. 

There may be many advantages to using such group contingencies. First, group rewards may encourage collaboration amongst students. Students who complete their work early may develop more motivation to help struggling peers. Such collaboration may benefit both students. 

Group contingencies may also prevent harmful and embarrassing stereotyping. Students who consistently fail to receive individual rewards may come to be identified as unintelligent or otherwise incapable while students who regularly achieve such rewards may be identified as teacher’s pets or nerds. Group contingencies, in which the entire class receives the reward may prevent this. Lastly, group rewards allow all students in the class to share in the excitement of receiving the reward. This may be particularly important for students who do not regularly earn individual rewards.

Positive reinforcement has been extensively used in animal training. Karen Pryor has popularized the use of clicker training in animal training circles (Pryor, 2019).

In clicker training, a reward, usually a food treat, is paired with the sound of a click. Positive reinforcement is much more effective at increasing behavior when the reinforcer is given immediately after the target behavior. When a short time delay is not possible, it may be useful to pair the reinforcer with a stimulus that can be delivered quickly. This stimulus can then be used to bridge the time gap between the behavior and the reward.

Clicker training has been successfully used to train dogs, horses, livestock, and other animals not usually considered trainable. The short video below shows a chicken that has been trained to walk in circles around the trainer upon hearing the word “circle”.

Walking in a circle around the trainer was probably not a part of this chicken’s behavioral repertoire before training. This behavior was probably established through the process of “shaping” which is a training process wherein reinforcement is given for progressively closer approximations to the target behavior (Pryor, 2019). Initially, the chicken may have been rewarded for taking a single step after hearing the word “circle”. Once the chicken was reliably taking one step, the criteria for receiving the reward may then have been increased to two steps in the same direction. This process then likely continued until the chicken was walking complete circles around the trainer.

Any number of complex behaviors can be trained using the principles of positive reinforcement and the process of shaping. For example, in the video below a miniature horse was trained to be a guide for the blind. Complex behaviors taught to this horse included stopping at the curb, getting into a car, maneuvering obstacles, and communicating with a visually impaired human companion.

Here are some books that may help you learn even more.

Positive reinforcement, like many of the principles of behavioral psychology, has been subject to intense criticism over the years. Some critics claim that providing external rewards to increase desirable behavior, and withholding rewards to decrease undesirable behavior is manipulative and a threat to individual freedom and human dignity (Holt, 1964). These critiques may derisively call positive reinforcement “dog training” to argue that it is not appropriate or ethical to apply such techniques to human beings. 

However, a nuanced view of positive reinforcement regards the applicability of reinforcement to both humans and animals not as a demonstration of its indignity, but as a demonstration of its universality. Positive reinforcement happens every day, in interactions with the physical world and with other people. When you put on a new shade of lipstick and like what you see in the mirror you’ll probably be more likely to wear that lipstick again. Similarly, when a teacher delivers a lesson in a new and particularly engaging way, he or she may be rewarded by increased student interest and class participation. This increased engagement may drive the teacher to increase the use of this new teaching technique in the future.

Positive reinforcement has no inherent value, good or bad. It is a process that, if understood and effectively used, can increase behavior. By understanding and acknowledging its impact in our lives we can strive to use this powerful principle to create a world that is consistent with our values.

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• Hoffman, R. (2021, July 25). Do you know how frequently online slot machines pay? The Sports Geek.
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• Kelshaw-Levering, K., Sterling-Turner, H. E., Henry, J. R., & Skinner, C. H. (2000). Randomized interdependent group contingencies: Group reinforcement with a twist. Psychology in the Schools, 37(6), 523–533. 
• Maag, J. W. (2001). Rewarded by punishment: Reflections on the disuse of positive reinforcement in schools. Exceptional Children, 67(2), 173–186. 
• Nevin, J. (1999). Analyzing Thorndike’s law of effect: The question of stimulus-response bonds. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 72 (3). 447-450. 
• Newport, C. (2019). Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Penguin.
• Partin, T. C., Robertson, R. E., Maggin, D. M., Oliver, R. M., Wehby, J. H. (2010). Using teacher praise and opportunities to respond to promote appropriate student behavior. 172, Preventing School Failure, 54(3), 172–178.
• Pryor, K. (2019). Don't Shoot the Dog: The Art of Teaching and Training. Simon & Schuster.
• Roane HS, Fisher WW, Carr JE. (2016). Applied behavior analysis as treatment for autism spectrum disorder. The Journal of Pediatrics. 175, 27–32.
• Roane, H. S., Vollmer, T. R., Ringdahl, J. E., & Marcus, B. A. (1998). Evaluation of a brief stimulus preference assessment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31(4), 605–620. 
• Scott, H.K., & Cogburn, M. (2017). Behavior modification. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.
• Sigler, E. A., Aamidor, S. (2005). From Positive Reinforcement to Positive Behaviors: An Everyday Guide for the Practitioner. Early Childhood Education Journal, 32 (4).
• Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: an experimental analysis. Appleton-Century.
• Watkins, S. S., Koob, G. F., & Markou, A. (2000). Neural mechanisms underlying nicotine addiction: Acute positive reinforcement and withdrawal. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2(1), 19–37. 
• Williams, B. A. (1994). Conditioned reinforcement: Experimental and theoretical issues. The Behavior Analyst, 17, 261–285.