The goal of positive reinforcement is to increase the target behaviorthrough the presentation of a (usually appetative) stimulus.Positive reinforcement occurs when a stimulus tends to maintain oraccelerate the behavior that it follows. Skinner claims that positivereinforcement is the most effective control and its ethical use is the bestmeans for producing a happy and productive society (Carpenter 1974).

Examples

The rat will continue to go through the maze and press the bar forfood. The rat knows that it will receive food each time it presses the bar.

A child that is beginning to talk will receive positive attention fromhis parents when he begins to say mamma or daddy. The child experiences asatisfying fact by producing a certain verbal sound, thus the child will repeatthe sound.