Reinforcement In Operant Conditioning

Reinforcement in Operant Conditioning

Define the concept of reinforcement. Identify the types of reinforcement that exist. Distinguish between reinforcement and a reinforcer. What types ofreinforcers exist? Provide an example to illustrate your understanding of reinforcement and how it works.

Reinforcement is defined in our textbook as “an increase of strength of behavior due to itsconsequence (Chance, 2008, P.127)” There are two types of reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is a procedure in which the subject is presented with a stimulus that likes or interests immediately after thecompletion of the conduct, this serves to increase the likelihood that the behavior from recurring. The other one is negative reinforcement; in this case it is desirable behavior by increasing thestimulation or elimination of a situation, which is unpleasant for the subject, shortly after the completion of the behavior. Both are used to increase the strength of behavior, in positive thereinforcing consequence is the appearance of a stimulus while negative the consequence is the removal of a stimulus (Chance, 2008,p.128-129).
The stimuli used in the reinforcement are known as reinforcers.As the reinforcement there’s two kinds of reinforcers positive and negative.

To show reinforcement I'll use a personal example. I remember when I did my first deployment we visited around 6countries overseas. On my command all E-3 and bellow personnel was not allowed to take overnight liberty in some countries, unless you meet some requirements that makes you what the called "ExceptionalSailor". In order to be an exceptional sailor you have to be fully qualified in your job, have at least your primary warfare qualification, not bad counseling or non-judicial punishment (NJP) in the last12 months. This is a clear example of how the command uses the method of reinforcement to obtain commitment and maintain good conduct of junior sailors in foreign countries.

Moises Gonzalez...