08/11/2026
Hi, my name is Ed, and I’m one of the BCaBAs at Smart Endeavors. Today, I would like to address a common misconception that is sometimes mentioned outside the ABA field: This misconception is the idea that positive reinforcement is nothing other than just us bribing our clients to do what we want. In reality, bribery and reinforcement are not only very different, but are in fact opposites. Bribery is what happens when someone is offered payment before they do a favor.Positive reinforcement occurs after a behavior and actuallyincreases the likelihood that the behavior will happen again in the future. Through the years, behavioral science has shown that the human mind will connect and pair a behavior with the stimulus that occurs immediately following it; this process is called operant conditioning. For example, if a parent offers a child verbal praise or a small edible after he cleans his room, the behavior of the child cleaning his room is more likely to occur again in the future. In fact, it has been shown that the person receiving the reinforcer does not even have to understand why they received the reinforcer for it to be effective. This is known as the Automaticity of Reinforcement. This means that the reinforcing connection between the behavior and the reinforcer does not have to be apparent to the individual who is being reinforced. So with that in mind, parents please remember when you are reinforcing your child, make sure that the reinforcer is delivered immediately after the behavior. If you wait too long, not only will it be less effective, but you may accidentally reinforce a subsequent behavior that happened after the one you intended to strengthen.
- Ed C, BCaBA
