Avoidance is a type of negative reinforcement since the absence of something makes the associated behavior more likely. Escape and avoidance are subtypes of negative reinforcement: Escape is where the negatively reinforced behavior is associated with the removal of the aversive event; Avoidance is where the negatively reinforced behavior is associated with the postponement or prevention of the occurrence of the aversive event.
Note that I’m avoiding the term ‘cause’, since there is some question as to whether a causal contingency is necessary. I’m also using a molar analysis (a fairly broad time range) rather than Skinner’s molecular analysis (which focused on individual responses and their consequences) since a molecular analysis has some problems with unsignaled avoidance. In the YouTube example, since the aversive event (the ad) is already present and the behavior results in it’s removal, it would be escape rather than avoidance. If future payments prevented the ads from returning, that would be avoidance. On Oct 30, 2014, at 9:10 AM, Jim Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > Or is it avoidance conditioning? And is avoidance conditioning a kind of > negative reinforcement? > > Jim > > Jim Clark > Professor & Chair of Psychology > 204-786-9757 > 4L41A > > From: Michael Britt [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2014 6:05 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: [tips] Negative Reinforcement Example > YouTube is considering using negative reinforcement (but not giving credit to > Skinner naturally) > > In an example of negative reinforcement that most students should be able to > recognize: YouTube might remove ads if you pay a fee. So: > > If you do this: pay a fee > They’ll do this: remove ads (take away a negative thing) > > http://recode.net/2014/10/27/susan-wojcicki-code-mobile-2014/ > > Michael A. Britt, Ph.D. > [email protected] > http://www.ThePsychFiles.com > Twitter: @mbritt > Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=39744 or send a blank email to leave-39744-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
