Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Main DifferenceThe main difference between Reinforcement and Punishment is that Reinforcement is an intense and enthusiastic outcome, for excellent performance, whereas Punishment is a consequence of some wrongdoing.
Difference Between Reinforcement and Punishment
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
The process of supporting a pattern behavior is reinforcement, while the process of forfeiting the pattern behavior is punishment.
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Reinforcement is an act of appreciation for letting good events happen more frequently, whereas punishment is an act discouraging bad behavior.
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Reinforcement is an enthusiastic and exciting outcome for excellent performance; on the other hand, punishment is the averse outcome for bad behavior.
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Reinforcement intensifies the response; on the flip side, punishment aims to weaken the response.
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
The consequence of reinforcement is increased or frequent behavior; conversely, the result of punishment is decreased or less common behavior.
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Reinforcement is adding a desirable stimulus or removing averse one, while punishment is adding averse stimulus or removing a pleasant one.
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Reinforcement motivates the desired behavior, whereas punishment represses the undesired behavior.
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Reinforcement increases the target behavior; contrarily punishment decreases the target behavior.
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Positive reinforcement is adding positive things or stimulus to spur the person to do the craved acts more; on the flip side, positive punishment is to add negative things to refrain the person from doing immoral acts.
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Negative reinforcement is to remove harmful things from a person's life as a reward so that he is determined to do kind acts, conversely negative punishment is to eliminate the good stuff from a person's life as a penalty so that he is beware of wrongdoings in the future.
Reinforcementnoun
(uncountable) The act, process, or state of reinforcing or being reinforced.
Punishmentnoun
The act or process of punishing, imposing and/or applying a sanction.
Reinforcementnoun
(countable) A thing that reinforces.
Punishmentnoun
A penalty to punish wrongdoing, especially for crime.
Reinforcementnoun
(in the plural) Additional troops or materiel sent to support a military action.
Punishmentnoun
A suffering by pain or loss imposed as retribution
Reinforcementnoun
The process whereby a behavior with desirable consequences comes to be repeated.
Punishmentnoun
(figuratively) Any treatment or experience so harsh it feels like being punished; rough handling
a vehicle that can take a lot of punishmentReinforcementnoun
a military operation (often involving new supplies of men and materiel) to strengthen a military force or aid in the performance of its mission;
they called for artillery supportPunishmentnoun
the act of punishing
Reinforcementnoun
information that makes more forcible or convincing;
his gestures provided eloquent reinforcement for his complaintsReinforcementnoun
(psychology) a stimulus that strengthens or weakens the behavior that produced it
Reinforcementnoun
a device designed to provide additional strength;
the cardboard backing was just a strengthenerhe used gummed reinforcements to hold the page in his notebookReinforcementnoun
an act performed to strengthen approved behavior
Comparison Chart
| Reinforcement | Punishment |
| Reinforcement is the promotion of desirable pattern of behavior that is socially praised | Punishment is the repression of an undesirable pattern of behavior that is humanly unbearable |
| Response | |
| Strengthens response | Weakens response |
| Consequence | |
| Increases the frequency of the behavior | Decreases the rate of the behavior |
| Steps Involved | |
| Addition of pleasant stimulus or removal of an undesirable one | Addition of unpleasant stimulus or replacement of a pleasant one |
| Action | |
| Encourages good behavior | Discourages bad behavior |
| Positive Type | |
| Positive reinforcement adds positive stimulus | Positive punishment adds negative stimulus |
| Negative Type | |
| Negative reinforcement removes the negative stimulus | Negative punishment removes the positive stimulus |
| Result | |
| An enthusiastic result | An aversive result |
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Reinforcement is an act of encouraging good behavior, whereas punishment is an act of discouraging bad behavior. Reinforcement causes the action to happen more often, while punishment causes the behavior to happen less habitually.
Reinforcement motivates the good behavior that is socially acceptable; on the other hand, punishment represses the bad behavior that is socially unacceptable. Reinforcement is the building of good habits by the appreciation of good behavior; on the contrary, punishment is the building of good practices by the condemnation of bad behavior.
Positive reinforcement is the addition of pleasant stimulus to enhance a particular behavior, while positive punishment is the addition of averse stimulus to stop the specific behavior. Similarly, negative reinforcement is the removal of an adverse stimulus to enhance a particular behavior; on the flip side, negative punishment is the elimination of a pleasant stimulus to deter a specific behavior.
In the context of operant conditioning, reinforcement is defined as any event or response followed by an action that increases the frequency of particular action; on the other hand, punishment is defined as an event or response followed by an action that decreases the rate of specific work. Reinforcement is intended to increase the desirable behaviors, while punishment is meant to reduce undesirable behaviors.
What is Reinforcement?
Reinforcement is a response or event that accelerates the chances of response to happen. It is defined as a favorable condition that causes the desired behavior to occur more frequently to continue and strengthen in the future.
Reinforcement is reward-based operant conditioning as the favorable condition acts as a reward. Reinforcement is used to upsurge the probability of specific behavior to occur in the future by adding or removing particular stimuli.
The term ‘reinforce’ literally means to strengthen, and is used in psychology to refer to the particular events that are desired to happen frequently in the future. The best way of teaching social skills and good habits to a person is through positive reinforcement.
Types
- Positive Reinforcement: Positive reinforcement is adding social factors to enhance the desired behavior. For something to happen again and again in the future, the positive stimulus is given as appreciation, so that the person keeps doing the same thing to get the reward. Eventually, good habits predominate, and socially praised skills are built-in personality. Example: A mother gives her child a sports toy car to do homework. The toy is given for the appreciation of doing homework so that the child does more homework in the future.
- Negative Reinforcement: Negative reinforcement is eliminating adverse or hostile factors to increase the wanted actions. It suggests taking away something unpleasant to inflame a person in the right direction. Example: Ali does homework to stop his mother’s nagging. Nagging is the negative factor, so Ali does homework to avoid his mother’s nagging.
What is Punishment?
Punishment is an act of response or behavior by the application of an aversive stimulus to decrease the frequency of the behavior. Unfavorable events happening in response to improper actions is the definition of punishment.
Punishment is a context of operant conditioning which aims to discourage bad behavior. It aims to decrease the probability of adverse events to happen. An action intended to reduce the undesirable behaviors that are socially unsupportable is called punishment.
Punishment only works when reinforcement doesn’t work well. Punishment is an event or consequence followed by action that decreases the frequency of particular behavior.
Negative behaviors can be abolished by either taking away excellent opportunities or by giving unpleasant and tiring tasks. The sole prerogative is to punish the person for misbehaving and make him never do that again.
Types
- Positive Punishment: Positive means “addition.” Positive punishment is adding a negative factor or stimulus to let down the negative behavior. It can simply be defined as adding a detrimental element to decrease the negative response. Example: Lilly gave Jason additional tasks for lying. Lying is an evil act, so to prevent him from lying again, Lilly made him do burdensome tasks.
- Negative Punishment: Negative means “removal.” Negative punishment is removing positive factors or a pleasant stimulus to deter negative behavior. Simply removing positive elements to decrease the negative reaction is negative punishment. Example: Jackeline was grounded because he talked back. Talking back to elders is a bad habit, so to eliminate it, he was deprived of freedom.
ConclusionReinforcement increases desired behavior by giving pleasant stimulus or removing irksome incentive as a reward. In contrast, Punishment decreases the undesired behavior by giving negative stimulus or removing pleasant stimulus as a penalty.
