80 Don’t Let A nxiety Run Your Life
people or the conditions of your environment) of reinforce-
ment and punishment. The positive and negative aspects of
reinforcement and punishment refer to applying and with-
holding (or removing) a stimulus, respectively, to increase
(encourage) or decrease (discourage) behavior. Some people
find these distinctions slightly confusing, especially because
the terms “positive” and “negative” and “reinforcement” and
“punishment” are being used in different ways than is cus-
tomary, but don’t despair— refer to figure 3.1 for a couple of
real- life examples of each.
Figure 3.1. Positive and Negative Reinforcement and Punishment
Positive
(A p pl y)Negative
(Withhold)Reinforcement(Increase Behavior)Positive
Reinforcement
Apply something to
increase behavior.Negative
Reinforcement
Withhold something to
increase behavior.Punishment(Decrease Behavior)Positive Punishment
Apply something to
decrease behavior.Negative Punishment
Withhold something to
decrease behavior.Positive Reinforcement (apply something to increase a
behavior):
a. Jake’s health insurance company gives him a dis-
count on his monthly premium if he walks at
least 2 miles per day at least five times a week.
A discount is being applied to increase a healthy
behavior.