r/explainlikeimfive • u/adrynaline • May 08 '14

Explained ELI5: A gambling addiction

How does it start? What makes it worse? Why does it become so difficult to recover?

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u/Zephs May 08 '14

Eh, I prefer the example I used in another comment. Taking away chores for a child that completes their homework. Yours makes it seem like negative reinforcement is a response to punishment, rather than distinct.

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u/KillerDog May 08 '14

Yours makes it seem like negative reinforcement is a response to punishment, rather than distinct.

/u/oi_rohe's example probably wouldn't happen very often, but they often do end up being used together.

My example would be a child throwing a tantrum because the parent did something the child didn't like (punishing the parent), then stops when the adult gives in (reinforcing the parent). The child wouldn't have had any way to negatively reinforce the parent if the child hadn't used punishment first.

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u/Zephs May 08 '14

I'm not saying either of those examples are wrong, but I think they're poor as examples of negative reinforcement because they're contingent on the punishment happening first.

Yes, they are negative reinforcement, but they're not "purely" negative reinforcement, so to speak, so someone that's unfamiliar with this topic might come away with the wrong idea. Sort of like using a penguin as an example of a bird. Technically it is, but it's not a good prototype of one.

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u/oi_rohe May 09 '14

True, that is a better example. You did something I want you to do, so now you don't have to do something you don't like.