Once again, what is the purpose of reinforcement? It’s to increase behaviors.

And why do we want to use reinforcement effectively? This is a quote that you will see many times from the International Encyclopedia of Education:

“Research has shown that the best way to reduce problem behavior in children is to strengthen desirable behavior through positive reinforcement rather than trying to weaken undesirable behavior using aversive or negative processes.”

Before we talk about this in detail, it’s helpful to review the definition of the term.

So, what is reinforcement??

As Karen Pryor explains in her book,

“Scientifically speaking, reinforcement is an event that a) occurs during or upon completion of a behavior; and b) increases the likelihood of that behavior occuring in the future”

It’s a 2 step process, and in this webinar we will focus on the second step, which is having good reinforcers that result in the behavior increasing.