Publication
Jack Michael. Positive and Negative Reinforcement, a Distinction That Is No Longer Necessary; Or a Better Way to Talk about Bad Things. Behaviorism 3(1):33–44 (1975). [25]
Site summary — not the original abstract
Michael’s 1975 conceptual article argues for dropping the distinction between positive and negative reinforcement, citing historical terminology and the difficulty of separating presentation from removal in some stimulus changes. [25]
Both positive and negative reinforcement refer to strengthening behavior in the usage he discusses; weakening behavior is the distinction between punishment and reinforcement, not between positive and negative reinforcement. [25]
His proposed vocabulary is an argument about behavioral concepts, not evidence that the proposal became consensus or that effectiveness alone establishes humane dog training. [25]
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