Behavioral psychology terms are not defined in a manner we would expect. For example “Negative” does not mean ‘bad’, and “Punishment” does not mean ‘spanking’ or ‘time out’. See below for common behavioral psychology term definitions from PsychologyDictionary.Org1 (my comments in parens)
Antecedent: an event preceding another event (or behavior) – setting the stage for a particular response.
Behavior: an observable activity2 (generally in response to an antecedent)
Consequence: A result of behavior in a chosen (particular) scenario.
Negative Reinforcement: the removal or prevention of a stimulus of a response which will increase the likelihood of that response repeating. (Removing something from the environment immediately following a behavior which increases the likelihood of the same response given the same conditions in the future)
Positive Reinforcement: the process of expressing a positive reinforcer following a response. (Adding something to the environment immediately following a behavior which increases the likelihood of the same response given the same conditions in the future)
Punishment: the process that makes a certain response to a stimulus less probable.
Reinforcement: The act of strengthening a conditioned response. A process of increasing the likelihood of a desired response by creating a dependent relationship with the reinforcer.
Reinforcer: When occurring in a dependent relationship, contingency, or response, a stimulus or condition which effectively brings about reinforcement to a particular response.
Response: Any clearly defined, measurable physical reaction to a stimulus.
Stimulus: Any external or internal situation, event or agent that arise a response from animal or human.
- , Pam M.S., PsychologyDictionary.org, April 7, 2013, https://psychologydictionary.org/positive-reinforcement/(accessed February 24, 2021).
- com (accessed February 24, 2021)
