What is the definition of positive punishment?

Positive punishment involves adding an undesirable stimulus to an individual’s environment to decrease a specific behavior. This approach is based on operant conditioning principles, where a behavior is followed by a consequence that reduces the likelihood of that behavior being repeated in the future.

For example, if a dog barks excessively and the owner uses a loud noise as a correction when the barking occurs, the loud noise acts as an undesirable stimulus. Over time, the dog may learn to associate the noise with its barking and reduce this behavior. Thus, the use of the undesirable stimulus is directly aimed at diminishing an unwanted action.

In contrast, the other options describe different behavioral modification techniques, such as negative punishment, which involves removing a pleasant stimulus, or positive reinforcement, which focuses on rewards to increase behaviors. Ignoring undesirable behaviors is also a separate strategy that relies on the principle of extinction rather than positive punishment.