ABSTRACT
There probably is no concept more difficult to teach to introductory students than that of negative reinforcement (Tauber, 1988). There are at least four reasons why this is so: (a) the surplus meaning carried by such terms as negative and punishment; (b) the fact that Skinner (1938, 1953) described two types of reinforcement (positive and negative), but only one type of punishment; (c) the tendency that most students have to perceive reinforcement and punishment in terms of their effects on the organism’s emotions rather than on overt behaviors; and (d) Skinner’s (1938, 1953) habit of using the words reinforcement and punishment in at least two different ways. Finding a more effective way to teach the concept of negative reinforcement requires resolving all four problems.
