What if I told you that positive reinforcement involves more than just rewards?
Positive reinforcement is the addition of a stimulus, which increases the likelihood of a behavior happening again in the future. It is one small part of a larger concept – operant conditioning.
In my experience, the concepts of reinforcement and punishment are the hardest to understand in relation to behavior change. It is all about what happens directly after the behavior, which results in an increase or decrease in the behavior over time.
For most of us, the ADDITION of a paycheck each week results in an INCREASE in the likelihood that we will go to work every day.
The things that function as positive reinforcement are different for everyone.
For example, when I go for a long run, I typically will give myself a few jelly beans from my stash at the end of every mile. The ADDITION of jellybeans INCREASES my running behavior. However, my guess is that not everyone is willing to run 26.2 miles for a few handfuls of jelly beans.
Occasionally during a consultation, I will hear, “but there is nothing that X finds reinforcing.” I always encourage those people to look a little deeper. Frequently, the things that one person loves are not as reinforcing to someone else.
It is important to look beyond the basics and figure out what things your client/student/child desire the most.