Which term refers to a form of punishment that introduces a stimulus following a behavior to reduce its future occurrence?

• A. Positive Reinforcement
• B. Positive Punishment
• C. Punisher
• D. Post Reinforcement Pause

Answer: (B)

Introducing a stimulus after a behavior to reduce how often that behavior occurs is called positive punishment. The term “positive” means something is added to the environment, while “punishment” means the consequence lowers future responding. So when an aversive or unwanted stimulus is presented after the behavior, the tendency to perform that behavior again tends to drop. This differs from positive reinforcement, which adds a desirable stimulus to increase a behavior, and from negative punishment, which removes a pleasant stimulus to decrease behavior. The word punisher refers to the stimulus itself that can reduce behavior, but the form described here—adding a stimulus after the behavior to decrease it—is specifically positive punishment.