What is negative reinforcement?

• A. Adding something desirable to increase behavior
• B. Adding something unpleasant to decrease behavior
• C. Removing something unpleasant to increase behavior
• D. Removing something desirable to decrease behavior

Answer: (C)

Negative reinforcement increases a behavior by taking away an unpleasant stimulus after the behavior occurs. The removal of something aversive acts as a reward, making it more likely the behavior will happen again. For example, the car’s annoying beeping stops as soon as you buckle your seatbelt, so buckling is reinforced. Another everyday example is taking medicine to relieve a headache—the relief (removal of pain) reinforces taking medicine when pain returns. This is different from adding something pleasant to increase behavior (positive reinforcement), adding something unpleasant to decrease behavior (positive punishment), or removing something desirable to decrease behavior (negative punishment).