Negative reinforcement has a bad reputation. Here’s what it really means, and why it can be surprisingly helpful.

Fear is a very normal, core part of being a human being. Pretending that we’re not afraid or that there’s no danger might not be the healthiest way to go through life. Instead, by embracing and ...

Another one of my pet peeves is the fact that many people – civilians and scientists alike – use the phrase “negative reinforcement” to mean “punishment.” The two are not at all the same; in fact, ...

Some of the most common tools parents and teachers use for managing children’s behaviors are rewards and punishments. While these methods tend to lose effectiveness as a child ages, there are times ...

One of the great misnomers of our sport is the term "negative split," which means running the second half of a race or training run faster than the first half. But running a negative split is hardly a ...

Operant conditioning is a theory that explains how behaviors are influenced by their consequences or results. It’s often used today to help people adopt new behaviors or change old habits. If you’ve ...

A central question in the interspecific human/animal relationship is how domestic animals perceive humans as a significant element of their environment. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that ...