negative reinforcer
- noun
- /ˈnɛɡətɪv rɪˈɪnfɔrsər/
- Specialized
:
refuerzo negativo
- Removing the unpleasant odor after cleaning the room acted as a negative reinforcer for her motivation to tidy up more often.
- positive or negative reinforcer
Examples
-
For all students, perceived functions focused on attention, demands, and activities as possible positive or negative reinforcers for problem behavior.
Academic text (2001) -
Application of performance feedback, in most cases, served to increase implementation, but it is unclear how performance feedback functioned (e.g., a prompt, a positive reinforcer, a negative reinforcer, etc.).
Academic text (1998) -
The loud siren acted as a negative reinforcer, prompting the driver to accelerate and avoid the noise.
-
When the coach removed the running laps, it served as a negative reinforcer that encouraged the players to perform better.
Antonyms
- Specialized
A thing given after a behavior that makes it more likely to happen again
How Reinforcing
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
90
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a technical behaviorist term where 'negative' means removal (of an aversive stimulus) rather than 'bad', so the combined sense — that removing a stimulus strengthens a behavior — is not apparent from everyday meanings of 'negative' and 'reinforcer'. Understanding this specific directional/technical use requires domain knowledge of operant conditioning, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would likely not infer the correct meaning.
Etymology
Negative reinforcer comes from the idea of taking away something unpleasant to make a behavior happen more often: negative means taking away and reinforcer means something that makes a behavior stronger. For example, if a loud alarm stops when you press a button, the alarm's stopping is a negative reinforcer because its 'removal' makes you press the button more.