Whenever Mr. Kerrigan picked up his young son, Billie, from soccer practice he would have to drive past a Dairy Queen. Every time Billie saw the large Dairy Queen sign, Billie would begin to scream. Mr. Kerrigan did not like his son’s screaming. To make his son stop screaming for ice cream, Mr. Kerrigan would pull over and buy ice cream for Billie. This stopped Billie’s screaming. In this short example, what is an example of positive reinforcement? What is an example of negative reinforcement? (Hint: both Billie and his dad are being conditioned in this story). How could Billie’s dad use conditioning to prevent Billie from screaming in the future?

Answer and Explanation:

Positive reinforcement involves giving reward for desired behaviour so as to reinforce and make that behavior happen again. Negative reinforcement involves removing bad consequences so as to get desired behaviour or make certain behavior happen again.

In the above, Mr. Kerrigan rewards his son with an ice cream to stop screaming. This is called positive reinforcement. His son Billie, screams to get ice cream, and stops screaming after he gets ice cream. This is negative reinforcement.

Mr. Kerrigan can bring ice cream when he goes to pick up his son Billie from soccer practice. This way Billie won't have to scream when they pass the Dairy Queen sign.

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