Which term describes a stimulus that serves as reinforcement and increases the future frequency of a behavior?

• A. Positive Reinforcement
• B. Post Reinforcement Pause
• C. Positive Reinforcer
• D. Prediction

Answer: (C)

A stimulus that increases the future frequency of a behavior when it is presented after the behavior is called a positive reinforcer. This term identifies the actual item or event that functions as reinforcement by adding something the learner values, so the behavior becomes more likely to occur again. For example, giving praise or a small treat after a correct response makes that correct response more likely in the future. It’s important to distinguish this from positive reinforcement, which describes the process of increasing behavior by adding a stimulus—here we’re focusing on the stimulus itself. The other ideas don’t fit because a post reinforcement pause is the temporary drop in responding after reinforcement, and prediction is unrelated to how reinforcement strengthens behavior.