4 Behavioral Terms Teachers Hear and What They Actually Mean
Four behavioral terms cause the most confusion in school meetings: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, function, and extinction. A reward isn't automatically positive reinforcement; negative reinforcement removes something aversive rather than punishing; function is the consequence maintaining a behavior; and extinction is the procedure of discontinuing that reinforcement.
As a graduate student in behavior analysis, one of the most frequent topics brought up at the conferences I've attended is how to translate behavioral jargon to a non-behavior analytic listener. This could include parents, caregivers, teachers, principals, counselors, etc. The reason why this can be difficult, and thus such an interesting topic, is that there are two opposing forces at work.
On the one hand, you want to speak the language of the person you are talking to. If they have no experience with terms like positive reinforcement, shaping, or functional analysis, it would be foolish to use those terms in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting as if they do understand them. They may have a general idea about what those words mean, but in a short IEP meeting that could be the last meaningful communication to occur between some members of the child's special education team for months (worst-case scenario), it is vitally important that everyone is on the same page. Additionally, using overly jargon-y language could be interpreted as condescending by some members of the team, which could even further close the lines of communication.
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On the other hand, meaning can get lost when using layman's terms to describe specific behavioral phenomena. Many behavioral theories, and the terms used to describe them, were developed and refined over many years by experts in the field. Using words that are similar to the precisely defined term, but not exactly the same, could result in misunderstandings that lead to mistakes in the implementation of the recommended protocol.
Here are four terms from behavior analysis that could lead to some confusion, and some ways to explain them that convey the proper meaning:
| Term | What a non-specialist usually hears | Plain-language translation |
|---|---|---|
| Positive reinforcement | Any reward given after a behavior | Something the student actually prefers, added after a behavior, that makes the behavior happen more often |
| Negative reinforcement | Punishment | Removing or avoiding an aversive stimulus following a behavior, which makes that behavior more likely in the future |
| Function | The purpose of a program or plan | The environmental outcome maintaining a behavior: attention, access to tangible items or activities, escape or avoidance, or automatic reinforcement |
| Extinction | Something disappearing for good | The procedure of discontinuing the reinforcement that maintained a behavior, which does not guarantee the behavior stops |
1) Positive Reinforcement
Using the term "reward" to replace "positive reinforcement" can get the majority of the intended meaning across to a non-behavior analytic listener. However, positive reinforcement describes something very specific, namely the addition of a consequence that makes a behavior more likely to occur in the future. We actually do not know if a reward is functioning as positive reinforcement until the behavior starts to occur more frequently. Many times, people assume that providing a toy or candy following a desirable behavior will make the child more likely to engage in this behavior again. This may not be the case, though. If the child does not like the toys or candy provided, then providing these things will not likely serve as positive reinforcement. This distinction could end up being important if a teacher or parent provides a "reward" and gets discouraged when the child doesn't respond as they were hoping they would.
The key when explaining this concept to someone unfamiliar with the language is to emphasize that preferences matter. A student must be receiving a preferred item for there to be a chance that the behavior is being positively reinforced. This means the teacher or parent should frequently ask what the student would like to receive for engaging in positive behavior and frequently track whether or not the behavior occurs more frequently. Something as simple as praise could work as an effective "reward" if it is preferred by the student. Overall, the focus should be put on the student and what they prefer to receive at that moment in time. The specific object or attention being provided should not be the focus. Asking is a reasonable starting point, but it isn't the whole method. What a student says they want and what actually functions as a reinforcer for them are not always the same thing, so preference assessments, direct observation, and tracking whether the behavior actually increases all do work that asking on its own can't.
2) Negative Reinforcement
"Negative reinforcement" can often be confused for "punishment" by people without a background in behavior analysis. The term actually means removing or avoiding an aversive stimulus following a behavior, which makes that behavior more likely to occur in the future. Punishment means that a behavior is less likely to occur in the future. Since the two terms can be easily confused for each other, the thing to hold onto is that reinforcement always increases a behavior and punishment always decreases one.
Take a case that gets described wrong constantly. If recess privileges are revoked for a student for being physically aggressive toward another student, that is intended as negative punishment. Something the student wants has been taken away, and the goal is less aggression. It does not negatively reinforce anything, and on its own it does nothing to teach the student a more constructive way to handle anger. That part has to be taught and reinforced separately.
Punishment doesn't tell the student what you want to see them do, only what you do not want to see them do, so a plan built on it alone leaves the replacement behavior unaddressed. How well any given procedure works depends on the behavior, the intervention, how consistently it gets implemented, and the individual student, so ranking procedures against each other in the abstract isn't much use. The more useful move is to identify a replacement behavior that produces the same outcome for the student and reinforce that deliberately.
Because these describe different behavioral processes, the answer isn't to drop "negative reinforcement" from the conversation and substitute "positive reinforcement" or "punishment." Those mean other things. The answer is to define it when you use it: something aversive goes away, and the behavior that made it go away happens more often.
3) Function
The term "function" could be the most-used term by behavior analysts. The "function" of a behavior is the environmental outcome or consequence maintaining it. Common functional categories are attention, access to tangible items or activities, escape or avoidance, and automatic reinforcement. Notice what that definition leaves out. It says nothing about what the student intends or consciously wants, which is why "motivated by" is a risky shorthand. It imports intent the term doesn't carry. "What keeps the behavior going" or "what the behavior gets the student" stays closer to the actual meaning.
More than one function can operate at once, and the function may not be obvious. It should be assessed rather than assumed, which is what a functional behavior assessment exists to do. Surface appearance is a poor guide. Two students can do the same thing for entirely different reasons, and one student can do it for different reasons in different settings. That is worth saying out loud in a meeting when somebody offers a confident guess about why a behavior is happening.
Repetitive behavior is where this comes up most. Hand flapping, clapping, and other forms of stimming are sometimes maintained by automatic reinforcement, but that isn't a given, and the same behavior can serve different purposes for different people and in different circumstances. It also doesn't follow that stimming needs to be changed. When it isn't interfering with anything, what's worth explaining to a parent or teacher is what the behavior does for the student, not how to reduce it.
4) Extinction
"Extinction," like many other terms in behavior analysis, has a meaning that's different in this context than the one most people are familiar with. Most people are going to think of condors or Indian jungle elephants when they hear "extinction." In the field of behavior analysis, though, it names a procedure rather than a result: discontinuing the reinforcement that previously maintained a behavior. Whether the behavior actually stops is a separate question. It may keep going for a while, get worse before it gets better, change form, or come back later. Extinction describes what you do, not a promise about what follows.
The textbook example is a student whose class interruptions are maintained by the teacher's attention. Putting those interruptions on extinction would mean the teacher no longer acknowledges the noise, while the student is taught and reinforced for getting attention in an appropriate way, such as raising a hand. The replacement behavior isn't optional. Withholding reinforcement without teaching another route to the same outcome leaves the student with nothing that works.
Here is the part that matters most for teachers, and it's the reason I'd be careful explaining this term at all. Deciding a behavior is attention-maintained and then ignoring it is not a call to make on your own. The function has to be properly assessed, and any intervention needs to follow the student's IEP or behavior intervention plan along with your school or district procedures. Extinction can also produce escalation, and it is not appropriate for behavior that is dangerous or harmful to anyone. If you find yourself planning to ignore something, that is the moment to bring in the team rather than the moment to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a reward the same thing as positive reinforcement?
Not automatically. A reward only counts as positive reinforcement if the behavior it follows starts happening more often, and that depends on whether the student actually wants what you're offering. A sticker handed to a student who doesn't care about stickers changes nothing.
Is negative reinforcement a type of punishment?
No, and this is the term that gets mixed up most often. Negative reinforcement means removing or avoiding something aversive after a behavior, which makes that behavior more likely in the future. Negative punishment means removing something the student wants, which makes a behavior less likely. Both involve taking something away, but they move behavior in opposite directions.
Why does "extinction" mean something different in behavior analysis?
Outside the field, extinction describes a species dying out permanently. In behavior analysis, it names a procedure: discontinuing the reinforcement that previously maintained a behavior. It carries no promise that the behavior will stop, and the behavior may temporarily increase or change form first. Extinction belongs in an assessed plan rather than in a teacher's independent decision to start ignoring something.
What should I do if I don't follow the language in an IEP meeting?
Ask for the plain-language version in the room, not afterward. A useful phrasing is asking what the team believes is maintaining the behavior, or what the plan expects to happen more often and less often. The specialist would rather define a term twice than have a plan implemented incorrectly for a month.
- Precision and accessibility pull against each other - using technical terms with a team that doesn't share them risks confusion, and softening them too far risks a plan being carried out wrong.
- Preference matters, but asking isn't enough - nothing counts as a reinforcer until the behavior increases, so pair what the student tells you with preference assessments, observation, and data.
- Negative reinforcement is not punishment - it removes or avoids something aversive and makes a behavior more likely, while negative punishment removes something wanted and makes a behavior less likely.
- Function is what maintains a behavior, not what a student intends - attention, access to items or activities, escape or avoidance, and automatic reinforcement are the common categories, and function should be assessed rather than guessed.
- Extinction is a procedure, not a result - it means discontinuing the reinforcement that maintained a behavior; it can produce escalation, and it belongs in an assessed plan rather than a teacher's solo decision.
- Explain the term, don't just simplify it - a short definition in the meeting protects the implementation of the plan for months afterward.
Translating behavioral terms for a team is a different skill from knowing them yourself, and it's one that formal coursework in special education or behavior analysis builds directly. The sponsored programs on this page include options designed for teachers who are already carrying a full class load.
- The Four Functions of Behavior, Explained for Teachers - February 20, 2018
- 4 Behavioral Terms Teachers Hear and What They Actually Mean - July 26, 2017
