There are two types of reinforcement, positive and negative. Reinforcement motivates a child so that they are likely to engage in that behavior again. Positive reinforcement is any type of praise or reward for a good behavior. Negative reinforcement is when some type of privilege is taken away after a bad behavior is exerted by the child. Negative reinforcement should not be thought of as a punishment procedure. With negative reinforcement, you are increasing a behavior, whereas with punishment, you are decreasing a behavior. I work at a daycare and we use positive and negative reinforcement daily. We have a sticker board for every child and when they do something nice for someone else they get a sticker and if they hurt another child or bully someone they get stickers taken away.
This is a great example of the proper use of negative reinforcement, so often people assume that positive reinforcement is the only way to teach concepts. But the importance of understanding consequences through negative reinforcement is an important step to learning
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