Operant conditioning is somewhat different. The animal, or human, must do something in order to obtain something pleasant or to avoid something unpleasant. For example, we work to earn money to exchange for many pleasant things. Or we stop our cars when we see a red traffic signal, in order to avoid the unpleasantness of a ticket or an accident. The terms negative reinforcement and punishment confuse many students.
Negative reinforcement refers to doing something to avoid an unpleasant condition.
If John is always unpleasant and argumentative, others will leave his presence as quickly as possible. Over time, the tendency to leave rapidly will be strengthened by a reduction in their experience of negative feelings. Punishment involves following a response with an unpleasant condition, which weakens the behavior, making it less likely to be repeated. If a child touches a hot stove and feels pain, it is likely that the stove-touching behavior will be less likely to occur. The cognitive-behavioral, humanistic, interpersonal , and sociocultural viewpoints have added a great deal to earlier theories of abnormal behavior.