How to Identify and Distinguish Between Positive and Negative Reinforcement Contingencies
If you work in ABA, you’ve probably heard colleagues talk about positive and negative reinforcement—and maybe felt uncertain about which is which. The names alone can be confusing. “Negative” sounds bad. But in behavior analysis, it’s not about value judgments; it’s about what actually happens after a behavior and whether that behavior becomes more likely in the future.
This article is for practicing BCBAs, clinic leaders, supervisors, and anyone responsible for designing or monitoring interventions. We’ll walk through clear, functional definitions, show you how to spot the difference in real situations, and explain why getting this right matters for your clients’ outcomes and your clinic’s ethical standing.
Here’s what you’ll learn: the precise definitions of positive and negative reinforcement, how to tell them apart by looking at what changes after a behavior, why negative reinforcement is not the same as punishment, and how to use this knowledge to make better intervention decisions.
One-Paragraph Summary
Reinforcement is a consequence that follows a behavior and increases the likelihood of that behavior happening again. Positive reinforcement means you add a desirable stimulus after the behavior—think praise, a token, or access to a preferred activity. Negative reinforcement means you remove or reduce an aversive stimulus after the behavior. The key to telling them apart: What changed after the behavior? Did something get added, or did something unpleasant go away? And crucially: did the behavior become more frequent? If it did, and one of those changes happened first, you’ve likely identified a reinforcement contingency. One last reminder: negative reinforcement is not punishment. Punishment decreases behavior; reinforcement increases it. When you’re building an intervention plan—especially one involving the removal of any aversive condition—consult with your supervisor and base your decision on functional assessment data.
Clear Explanation of the Topic
What Reinforcement Is
In ABA, reinforcement is defined by its effect, not by the intention behind it. A reinforcement contingency exists when a consequence follows a behavior and that behavior becomes more likely to occur in similar situations in the future.
You cannot decide whether something is a reinforcer by looking at it alone. Praise might reinforce one person’s behavior and leave another person unmoved. A token might be worth a lot to a child in one moment and worthless in another. Reinforcement is always about function: Does this consequence actually make the behavior more probable?
Positive Reinforcement: Adding Something Desirable
Positive reinforcement happens when a stimulus is presented (added) after a behavior, and that behavior increases as a result. The “positive” simply means something was added to the situation. Common examples include praise, a tangible reward, a point toward an earned privilege, or access to a preferred activity.
Think of it this way: your learner completes a math worksheet, and you give them a high-five and genuine praise. If they start completing worksheets more often, the high-five and praise functioned as positive reinforcement. The added consequence strengthened the behavior. Notice that we’re not guessing what should motivate the learner; we’re looking at what actually happened.
Negative Reinforcement: Removing Something Aversive
Negative reinforcement happens when an aversive stimulus is removed, reduced, or avoided after a behavior, and that behavior increases as a result. The “negative” refers to the removal, not to the quality of the intervention. Negative reinforcement is still reinforcement—it strengthens behavior. But it does so through escape or avoidance of something uncomfortable.
A common example: A student is sitting in a loud, crowded hallway. They ask politely to go to a quiet study area, and the teacher moves them there immediately. If the student starts asking politely more often—and if the removal from the loud hallway is the consequence driving that increase—then politeness is being negatively reinforced.
How to Identify Which One You’re Looking At
The simplest way to tell the difference is to map the ABCs: identify the Antecedent (what happened before), the Behavior (what the person did), and the Consequence (what happened after). Once you have those, ask: What actually changed? Did something get added to the environment, or did something unpleasant disappear? And most importantly: Did the behavior become more frequent?
If the behavior increased and a desirable stimulus was added, you have positive reinforcement. If the behavior increased and an aversive stimulus was removed or avoided, you have negative reinforcement. Both lead to more of the behavior—that’s why they’re both reinforcement.
Why Labeling Matters Less Than Function
Here’s a critical insight: you can’t call something a reinforcer just because you intended it to be rewarding. A parent might offer a toy after a tantrum thinking they’re being kind, but if tantrums increase, that toy is functioning as a reinforcer for the tantrum—unintentionally rewarding the wrong behavior.
Similarly, a teacher might remove a student from class thinking it’s a punishment, but if that student’s behavior actually becomes more frequent, the removal is functioning as negative reinforcement.
Always measure behavior before and after your intervention. Intent doesn’t matter; function does.
Why This Matters
Getting this right changes everything. When you correctly identify whether a behavior is maintained by positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or something else, you can design an intervention that actually works—instead of accidentally making the problem worse.
If you mislabel a negatively reinforced behavior as punishment, you might create an intervention that removes the aversive condition more reliably, which would actually strengthen the unwanted behavior. If you don’t recognize that negative reinforcement is involved, you might not teach the learner a healthier way to escape or avoid the aversive condition.
From an ethical standpoint, proper identification supports dignity and least-restrictive practice. When you understand what’s maintaining a behavior, you can choose interventions that teach new skills rather than simply remove supports or create unnecessary discomfort.
Key Features and Defining Characteristics
Reinforcement (both types):
- Increases the future frequency, rate, or probability of the behavior
- Requires a clear temporal link between the behavior and the consequence
- Is individual and context-dependent
Positive Reinforcement:
- A desirable stimulus is presented immediately after the behavior
- Common reinforcers include attention, praise, tangible items, sensory feedback, or access to preferred activities
- Requires that the stimulus actually be desirable to that person at that moment
Negative Reinforcement:
- An aversive stimulus is removed, reduced, or avoided after the behavior
- The aversive condition must exist or be imminent for the removal to have an effect
- Strengthens escape or avoidance behavior
Important boundary: The same physical event can function differently depending on individual circumstances. Being sent to the office might be negative reinforcement for one student (escaping a difficult class) and a punishment for another (losing access to peers). Function, not topography, is what counts.
When You Would Use This in Practice
You’ll use your skill in identifying reinforcement contingencies most directly during functional behavior assessment (FBA). The FBA process hinges on determining what’s maintaining a behavior. Is the student acting out to escape a demand? To get attention? To access a preferred item? Accurate identification points you toward the right intervention.
Once you know the function, your intervention choices become clearer. If a behavior is maintained by positive reinforcement (e.g., attention), you might teach the learner an alternative way to get attention, then reinforce that alternative instead. If a behavior is maintained by negative reinforcement (e.g., task avoidance), you might teach functional communication, make the task more manageable, or help the learner build tolerance for the mildly aversive condition.
In real settings, this might look like: A child screams during transitions. Your ABC data shows that screaming is followed by the adult pausing the transition and offering comfort. If screaming increases, the comfort is functioning as positive reinforcement. Your intervention might include teaching the child to ask for a break calmly. Alternatively, you might work on making transitions more predictable and less aversive overall.
Examples in ABA
Example 1: Escape-Maintained Behavior
A child screams during a math task. Every time the screaming happens, the teacher removes the math task and lets the child take a break. Over the following weeks, screaming during math becomes more frequent.
Why this is negative reinforcement: The consequence following screaming is the removal of an aversive stimulus (the math task). The behavior increased. This is classic negative reinforcement—the behavior is maintained by escape from a demand.
What you might do: Rather than simply ending the task when screaming occurs, you could teach the child to request a break using words or a visual card, then honor that request immediately. You’re preserving the function but replacing the problematic behavior with an acceptable one.
Example 2: Attention-Maintained Behavior
A learner follows an adult’s instruction to complete work. When the work is finished, the adult gives specific praise and a token that can be exchanged for a preferred activity. Over time, the learner completes work more quickly and more often.
Why this is positive reinforcement: The consequence is the addition of two stimuli—praise and a token—that increase the behavior. The learner is more likely to complete work in the future because of what was added after the behavior.
Examples Outside of ABA
Reinforcement happens everywhere, not just in clinical settings.
Example 1: Putting on a coat when it’s cold. You feel cold. You put on a coat. The cold feeling goes away. Your coat-wearing behavior increases because the aversive sensation was removed. This is negative reinforcement.
Example 2: Using the car horn. You press the horn, and the car in front moves aside so you can merge. Next time you’re in a similar situation, you’re more likely to use the horn because of the positive outcome. This is positive reinforcement—the added consequence strengthens the behavior.
Common Mistakes and Misconceptions
Calling Negative Reinforcement “Punishment”
This is the most frequent mix-up. Negative reinforcement increases behavior by removing something aversive. Punishment decreases behavior. They are opposite in effect. If a consequence increases behavior, it is reinforcement, not punishment—regardless of whether it involves adding or removing something.
Assuming Rewards Automatically Function as Reinforcers
Just because you give a reward doesn’t mean it reinforced anything. A teacher might offer stickers thinking they’re motivating, but if the child doesn’t care about stickers, the behavior won’t increase. The only test is whether the behavior became more likely.
Confusing Extinction with Negative Reinforcement
These are fundamentally different. Extinction means you withhold the reinforcer that was maintaining the behavior in order to decrease it. Negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive stimulus in order to increase the behavior. They’re opposite strategies with opposite goals.
Focusing on Topography Instead of Function
Two behaviors that look completely different might serve the same function. A child might hit, yell, or throw objects—all different topographies—but all might be maintained by escape from a difficult task. If you design an intervention based only on stopping the hitting without addressing the function, the child will find another way to escape.
Ethical Considerations
Negative reinforcement is sometimes necessary, but it comes with responsibility. When you design an intervention involving the removal of any aversive condition—even mild ones—you’re potentially maintaining an aversive situation that you could improve instead.
Before using negative reinforcement in an intervention:
- Document your functional assessment. Show that the behavior is actually maintained by escape or avoidance of a specific aversive.
- Explore whether you can simply remove or reduce the aversive condition itself rather than relying on escape-maintained behavior.
- Teach the learner an acceptable alternative way to communicate their need to escape or avoid.
- Prioritize least-restrictive interventions. Positive reinforcement for alternative behaviors is usually preferable.
- If your plan does involve removal of a stimulus, obtain informed consent from the learner and their family when possible.
- Monitor data continuously. If unintended side effects emerge, adjust your plan.
A common ethical trap: assuming that because you wouldn’t find a condition aversive, the learner doesn’t either. Always look at behavior. If a learner’s behavior shows they’re trying to escape or avoid a situation, treat that situation as aversive.
Practice Questions
Here are five scenarios to sharpen your skill at identifying and distinguishing these contingencies.
Scenario 1: A teen picks at a scab on their arm during class. When the teacher notices, they remove the teen from the classroom and send them to the nurse’s office. Over the next month, scab-picking during class increases.
Correct answer: Negative reinforcement (escape from the classroom). The behavior increases because the aversive stimulus is removed.
Scenario 2: A child finishes a work assignment. A classmate immediately claps and gives a high-five. The child begins completing work assignments more frequently.
Correct answer: Positive reinforcement (social attention added). The added social consequence increases the behavior.
Scenario 3: A person washes their hands repeatedly throughout the day to relieve feelings of anxiety. Hand-washing frequency increases over time.
Correct answer: Negative reinforcement (reduction of internal aversive state—anxiety). The behavior reduces an aversive internal stimulus, which strengthens the behavior.
Scenario 4: A toddler throws a tantrum. The parent immediately offers a favorite toy. Tantrums become more frequent.
Correct answer: This requires careful analysis. The key question: did the parent add a toy, or did the parent remove a demand? If a toy is added, it’s positive reinforcement. If a demand is removed, it could be negative reinforcement. Always specify the actual consequence and observe what changed in the environment.
Scenario 5: During math drills, a student completes more problems correctly to avoid a loud buzzer that sounds when an error is made. Correct answers increase.
Correct answer: Negative reinforcement (avoidance of an aversive noise). Completing problems avoids the aversive buzzer, increasing correct responding.
Related Concepts
Understanding positive and negative reinforcement connects to other ABA fundamentals:
- Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA): The process that determines which type of reinforcement is maintaining a behavior. FBA is your roadmap to accurate identification.
- Punishment: The opposite of reinforcement in effect. Reinforcement increases behavior; punishment decreases it.
- Extinction: Withholding the reinforcer that was maintaining a behavior to decrease it. Unlike negative reinforcement, extinction removes the consequence, not the aversive condition.
- Schedules of Reinforcement: Patterns of when reinforcement is delivered. Once you’ve identified the contingency, schedule decisions influence how quickly behavior is learned and how long it maintains.
- Motivating Operations (MOs): Conditions that temporarily change the value of a reinforcer. Understanding MOs helps predict when a behavior is more likely to occur.
- Functional Communication Training (FCT): A common intervention used when reinforcement maintains problem behavior. FCT teaches a communication-based alternative that serves the same function.
FAQs
Q: What’s the simplest way to tell positive and negative reinforcement apart?
A: Ask three questions: (1) What changed after the behavior? (2) Was something added or removed? (3) Did the behavior become more frequent? If something was added and the behavior increased, it’s positive reinforcement. If something aversive was removed and the behavior increased, it’s negative reinforcement.
Q: Is negative reinforcement the same as punishment?
A: No. Negative reinforcement increases behavior by removing an aversive stimulus. Punishment decreases behavior. Always look at the effect—if behavior increases, it’s reinforcement; if it decreases, it’s punishment.
Q: How do I collect data to figure out whether reinforcement is positive or negative?
A: Use ABC data collection. Record what happened before the behavior, the behavior itself, and what happened after. Track frequency or intensity before and after the consequence. If the behavior increases and a stimulus was added, that’s positive reinforcement. If the behavior increases and an aversive stimulus was removed, that’s negative reinforcement.
Q: Can the same consequence be both positive and negative reinforcement?
A: Not simultaneously for the same behavior. But the same event might function differently for different people or in different contexts. Always determine function through assessment, not assumption.
Q: Are there ethical limits to using negative reinforcement?
A: Yes. Avoid creating or maintaining unnecessary aversive conditions. Prioritize teaching alternative skills and choosing least-restrictive interventions. If negative reinforcement is part of your plan, document the functional assessment, get supervision, and seek informed consent when feasible.
Q: How do motivating operations affect reinforcement?
A: Motivating operations change how much a stimulus is valued as a reinforcer. If a learner is not hungry, food won’t reinforce much. Understanding MOs helps you predict when a behavior is more likely to occur and be reinforced.
Q: What if my data are unclear about whether it’s positive or negative reinforcement?
A: Conduct a more detailed functional assessment or, if appropriate and safe, a brief experimental analysis. Use a provisional, low-risk intervention while you gather more data. Consult your supervisor. Don’t force a label if the evidence isn’t clear.
Key Takeaways
The foundation is simple but powerful: reinforcement increases behavior, and reinforcement is defined by its effect, not by intention. Positive reinforcement adds a desirable stimulus; negative reinforcement removes an aversive one. Both make behavior more likely. The only way to tell them apart is to look at what actually changed and whether the behavior actually increased.
Function matters more than labels, and measurement matters more than guessing. Before you design an intervention, always run a functional behavior assessment to understand what’s maintaining the behavior. If negative reinforcement is part of that picture, take extra care to ensure you’re choosing the least-restrictive path, that you have solid data, and that you’re also teaching the learner healthier alternatives.
Your role as a clinician or supervisor is to ensure ethical, effective, evidence-based practice. Correctly identifying reinforcement contingencies is one of the most direct ways you protect your learners’ dignity and improve their outcomes. When in doubt, collect more data, involve your team, and consult with your supervisor.
