negative reinforcement

[saaz55]

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this kaplan book is rly pissing me off. sorry for asking you guys all these questions and i thank you for being patient with me. my dilemma is:

kaplan BB says: negative reinforcement - when an organism avoids an action and the experimenter gives it a reward for doing so (i.e. rat doesnt press the lever and the experimenter gives it a sugar cube as a reward; in the end, this will increase the likelihood of the rat not pressing the lever)

but my sis (a psychologist) and wikipedia says: negative reinfocement - an annoying buzz exists in the rat's cage and the rat presses the lever, which turns the sound off. this increases likelihood of rat pressing the lever

if this BB is wrong i swear i think im going to burn it.

 

[kaush9]

Both are correct. Negative reinforcement refers to avoiding or stopping a negative behaviour. Googled it, quite a few links refer to two explanations of negative reinforcement.

 

[chrisvocker]

i think your sis is correct. I cannot find anything "negative" about Kaplan's explanation.

 

[saaz55]

ooo. thanks bud. looks like ill have to wait on destoying the book, hopefully, after i rock this dammed exam

 

[Decan]

Both positive and negative reinforcement will increase the likelihood of a behavior. In negative reinforcement, the researcher takes away something aversive and this will increase behavior. Sometimes avoiding the action is the reward (such as when the floor of the rat cage is electrified). Clearly, this will increase behavior.