Situation 3: Lukas likes to talk to people who wear shorts. Some have been friendly while others have been rude. Lukas is now experiencing extreme anxiety when he thinks about talking to someone wearing shorts. What would a BEHAVIORAL psychologist say is the cause of Lukas' behavior?
Reinforcement is anything in the environment that rewards behavior and increases the chances that it will occur again. It can be by introducing something positive in the environment, like when a child is praised for cleaning their room (positive reinforcement), or by removing something negative from the environment, like when the alarm stops ringing because you got out of bed and pressed the button (negative reinforcement).
Punishment, on the other hand, is anything that penalizes behavior and decreases the chances that it will occur again. It can be by introducing something negative in the environment, like when a child is scolded for leaving toys on the floor (positive punishment), or by removing something positive from the environment, like when you are banned from an internet forum for violating its rules (negative punishment).
Both reinforcement and punishment work to shape our daily behaviors, and may sometimes get confusing when both are associated with the same behavior.
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