What’s the Difference?
Though they often get confused, it is probably best to first explain what those in the ABA field mean by the terms negative reinforcement and punishment.
Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement involves the relief of something undesirable being removed. An example would be when you get into your car and it starts beeping before you put on your seatbelt. The beeping is undesirable and engaging in the behaviour of putting on your seatbelt removes the beep. This type of reinforcement is aimed at increasing a behaviour and should not be thought of as punishment.
Punishment
Punishment on the other hand is a strategy designed to decrease behaviour and refers to something being added or removed immediately after the behaviour takes place. Many people think of punishment as typical aversive procedures, like reprimands, scolding, and even spankings, but often these things don’t reduce behaviour the way we would like. There are two types of punishment: positive and negative. It might help to think of positive punishment as pain, and negative punishment as cost.
Positive Punishment
Positive punishment can be thought of as pain, though not necessarily physical. As humans we tend to avoid pain as best we can and reduce doing things that lead to pain. Think of your mother saying she is “really disappointed in you”, or falling on some ironshore when rough-housing on the beach. The uncomfortable feeling hurts and we are less likely to engage in the behaviour again.
Negative Punishment
Negative Punishment can be thought of as cost, or loss. As humans we tend to want to minimize our costs and avoid losing things that are precious to us. Think of lending a favorite item to a friend and never seeing it again, or getting a speeding ticket. The loss, or cost, isn’t desirable and we are less likely to engage in the behaviour again.
What is the Confusion?
So, how does negative reinforcement get confused with punishment? Consider this example. A child struggles with math and often whines and “acts up” right before and during maths class. A typical way for a teacher to “punish” the child may be to send them to the office for their behaviour, but this may not be punishing at all. In fact, it is possible that being sent to the principal's office for “acting out” in maths class is preferable to attending maths class for this child. While the teacher was attempting to decrease the child’s disruptive behaviour, they may have actually increased it instead.
How to tell the Difference
In ABA the way we learn about a person’s behaviour is by watching them. What this means is that the more an ABA practitioner sees a behaviour, the more likely it is that the person is getting some kind of reward or relief from the behaviour. Extending the above example, if a child is repeatedly being sent to the office during maths class, then being sent to the office isn’t acting as punishment because it isn’t reducing the child’s “acting up” behaviour, it is maintaining it.
If you are interested in learning more, check out this clip from the famous show Big Bang Theory where Sheldon provides an explanation on the difference between Negative Reinforcement and Positive Punishment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhI5h5JZi-U