Positive Reinforcement: What Is It and How Does It Work?

How Does It Work?

Positive reinforcement is a basic principle of Skinner’s operant conditioning, which refers to the introduction of a desirable or pleasant stimulus after a behavior, such as a reward.

This desirable stimulus is intended to reinforce the behavior, making it more likely that the behavior will occur in the future. This could be used to teach new behaviors or strengthen existing ones.

Operant Conditioning is the theory that underlies Skinner’s positive reinforcement technique. In essence, the idea is that one can modify behavior by controlling the consequences that follow it.

Skinner argued that learning is an active process. When humans and animals act on and in their environment, consequences follow these behaviors. If the consequences are pleasant, they repeat the behavior, but if the consequences are unpleasant, they do not repeat the behavior.

Skinner believed that internal thoughts and motivations were not necessary to explain behavior. Instead, he believed that this explanation could come from external and observable causes (Staddon & Cerutti, 2003).

If a behavior is followed by a positive consequence (i.e., reinforcement), then that behavior is more likely to occur again in the future; conversely, if a behavior is followed by a negative consequence (i.e., punishment), then that behavior is less likely to occur again (Staddon & Cerutti, 2003).

Examples

Animal training

A classic use of positive reinforcement is in animal training and behavior. The general adage of animal training is to reward positive behaviors and ignore undesirable ones.

The use of positive reinforcement as a way of training animals dates to early psychological research, in particular, the works of B. F. Skinner.

Skinner devised a method of rewarding positive behavior called the Skinner box (Dezfouli & Balleine, 2012).
Essentially, this skinner box consists of a reinforcer — a lever or button that, when pressed in a certain way, delivers a reward such as food or water — and a tracker.

In this way, animals could learn to perform a task in a particular way to receive a reward. This is an example of tangible reinforcement (Dezfouli & Balleine, 2012).

In the workplace

Positive reinforcement can also be used in the workplace to encourage desirable behaviors. For example, an employer may give employees a bonus for meeting or exceeding sales targets.

This type of positive reinforcement is often called a “performance-related pay” or “pay for performance” system.

In another example, an employee who arrives at work on time every day may receive a gift card at the end of each month as a way of reinforcing timeliness.

Alternatively, an employer might give employees extra paid vacation days as a way of reinforcing good attendance (Ackerman, 2022).

It is important to note that positive reinforcement is not to be confused with bribery. Bribery happens when someone is given something in exchange for doing something that they otherwise would not do before it happens.

Meanwhile, positive reinforcement happens after the behavior has already been displayed. For example, an employee who already arrives to work on time every day cannot be bribed to do so — they are only eligible for positive reinforcement in the form of a reward (Ackerman, 2022).

Social Media

Social media use has skyrocketed in recent years, and positive reinforcement may be one of the reasons why. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all make use of likes, followers, and other forms of positive reinforcement to keep users engaged.

For example, a person who posts a photo on Instagram is likely to receive likes from their friends and followers. This, in turn, encourages that person to continue posting photos, as they have been positively reinforced for doing so.

Similarly, a person who tweets often and receives lots of replies and retweets is likely to continue tweeting, as they are being reinforced for their behavior.

It is important to note that not all social media platforms use positive reinforcement in the same way. Many traditional social media platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, use a likes system to reward users for creating posts.

However, Snapchat does not use likes or followers as a form of positive reinforcement. Instead, the app uses streaks — that is, the number of consecutive days that two people have Snapchatted each other.

This encourages users to Snapchat each other frequently in order to maintain their streaks (Ackerman, 2022).

Positive reinforcement is not the opposite of negative reinforcement

Both positive and negative reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. The only difference is the type of consequence used to achieve this goal.

While positive reinforcement uses a desirable consequence to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated, negative reinforcement removes an unpleasant condition after the behavior is displayed, in order to increase its future occurrence (Dozier, Foley, Goddard, & Jess, 2019).

Negative reinforcement occurs when an unpleasant stimulus is removed after a behavior is displayed in order to increase the chance of that behavior being repeated.

For example, a smoker may feel relief after having a cigarette and so be more likely to smoke again in order to experience that relief (Cherry, 2018).

In contrast, positive reinforcement occurs when a pleasant stimulus is added after a behavior in order to increase its likelihood of being repeated.

Continuing with the above example, if a smoker was given a candy bar after smoking, they would be more likely to repeat the behavior in order to get the candy bar.

There is evidence that both positive and negative reinforcement can be effective in different ways. For example, recent research suggests that while positive reinforcement may be more effective in the short-term, negative reinforcement may actually lead to longer-lasting behavior change (Ferguson & Beaver, 2016).

It is important to note that not all reinforcers are created equal. Some people may respond well to one type of reinforcer but not to another.

It is also worth noting that some behaviors may be reinforced by both positive and negative reinforcement, depending on the individual (Ferguson & Beaver, 2016).

Ultimately, the decision of whether to use positive or negative reinforcement depends on the behavior being targeted, the individual displaying the behavior, and the desired outcome.

Effectiveness

Numerous studies have shown that positive reinforcement does, indeed, work. The technique of positive reinforcement is also widely practiced in both research and everyday life.

For example, dog trainers often provide treats to their dogs as a way of encouraging the behaviors they want to see.

Similarly, parents and teachers have found that positive reinforcement can be extremely strong as a method of training children to behave appropriately (Ackerman, 2022).

Nonetheless, there are several different factors that control the likelihood that positive reinforcement would make it more likely that a behavior will be repeated.

The most important of these factors, it is widely agreed, is to provide the desirable stimulus as soon as possible after the desired behavior is performed.

The more time that passes between a behavior and a reward, the weaker the connection between the behavior and reinforcer is and the more likely that some intervening behavior occurs that may be reinforced instead.

On the positive side, positive reinforcement is seen as simpler than other methods of training, as it does not involve taking away rewards or introducing negative consequences for undesirable behavior.

This may improve the morale and motivation of the learner (Kamery, 2004). In general, scholars agree that it is easier to encourage behaviors than to discourage them, meaning that reinforcement is often a more powerful tool than punishment.

Finally, learning accompanied by positive feelings and associations is more likely to be remembered beyond the end of the reinforcement schedule (Ackerman, 2022).

Further Information

Sprouls, K., Mathur, S. R., & Upreti, G. (2015). Is positive feedback a forgotten classroom practice? Findings and implications for at-risk students. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 59(3), 153-160.