Which term describes something added to the environment as a result of a behavior?

Which term describes something added to the environment as a result of a behavior?

• A. Negative
• B. Positive
• C. Stimulus
• D. Reinforcement

Answer: (B)

In operant conditioning, outcomes are described as either adding something to the environment or removing something from it. When a behavior is followed by something that is added, that is called positive. If that added thing increases the chance the behavior will occur again, it’s positive reinforcement. So the term that describes the act of adding a stimulus after a behavior is positive. The other options don’t fit as neatly: removing something would be negative, the word stimulus refers to what is added or removed but doesn’t specify the sign, and reinforcement describes the effect on behavior but doesn’t by itself specify that an addition occurred.

In operant conditioning, outcomes are described as either adding something to the environment or removing something from it. When a behavior is followed by something that is added, that is called positive. If that added thing increases the chance the behavior will occur again, it’s positive reinforcement. So the term that describes the act of adding a stimulus after a behavior is positive. The other options don’t fit as neatly: removing something would be negative, the word stimulus refers to what is added or removed but doesn’t specify the sign, and reinforcement describes the effect on behavior but doesn’t by itself specify that an addition occurred.