www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZvgHobDeJZcirGF5e/why-many-ambitious-and-altruistic-peop...
1 correction found
In theory, negative reinforcement should prevent people from doing things that would make them a “bad person.”
This uses a psychology term incorrectly: negative reinforcement increases a behavior by removing something unpleasant, rather than preventing a behavior. Self-punishment meant to deter wrongdoing would be punishment, not negative reinforcement.
Full reasoning
In operant conditioning, reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behavior, while punishment decreases it. The word negative does not mean “bad”; it means something is removed. So negative reinforcement means removing an aversive stimulus in order to increase a behavior, not preventing a behavior.
That makes the sentence factually incorrect as written. If the intended idea is that suffering or punishment discourages someone from doing something “bad,” the correct behavioral term would be some form of punishment (for example, positive punishment if an aversive consequence is added), not negative reinforcement.
Two introductory psychology texts state this explicitly:
- OpenStax: “Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior, and punishment means you are decreasing a behavior.” It also defines negative reinforcement as: “an undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior.”
- Washington State University’s open textbook likewise says: “Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior, and punishment means you are decreasing a behavior,” and defines negative reinforcement as removing something to increase the likelihood of a behavior.
So the claim is incorrect because it reverses the meaning of a standard psychology term.
2 sources
- 6.3 Operant Conditioning - Psychology | OpenStax
In operant conditioning, positive and negative do not mean good and bad... Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior, and punishment means you are decreasing a behavior... In negative reinforcement, an undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior.
- 6.4 Operant Conditioning - Introductory Psychology
Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior, and punishment means you are decreasing a behavior... In negative reinforcement, an undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior.