Don’t Get Caught in the Rain…Without Your Negative Reinforcement Umbrella
April 30, 2023
Question: This term is defined as a response that stops an ongoing stimulus.
Answer: Escape.
Escape falls under the negative reinforcement umbrella, along with avoidance. So, what’s the difference? Well, escape means that the aversive event is already happening to you, and the behavior that you emit results in escape from that situation. For example, you’re outside, and it starts to rain, and you weren’t ready for that; you’re getting drenched, so you run inside, or you run under an awning. What you’ve done is escaped the rain. Escape can be both automatic or socially mediated. Running under that awning is going to be automatic. But, if someone rescues you with an umbrella over your head, that would be socially mediated.
The other type of negative reinforcement is avoidance. That’s when a response prevents or postpones the presentation of a stimulus. Not going outside because it’s raining, you are avoid getting wet, or you carry an umbrella with you in anticipation of the rain. You avoid getting wet. There are two types of avoidance— we have discriminated avoidance, and we have free operant.
Discriminated means there’s a signal that lets you know that avoidant behavior can result in negative reinforcement, meaning avoiding some aversive stimulus. With free operant avoidance, there is no signal, so you’re technically free to engage in avoidant behavior without that thing telling you that avoidance will result in avoiding that aversive stimulus.
