the.com/reinforcement
The universe's way of saying do that again, with treats or trauma.
means Something that strengthens a behavior by making it more likely to happen again, whether it comes as a reward or a punishment.
from From French renforcer, built from re- ('again') plus enforcer ('to strengthen'), itself rooted in Latin fortis ('strong'). It entered English in military contexts — sending fresh troops to strengthen a line — before psychology borrowed it in the 20th century for behavior that gets 'strengthened' by what follows it, thanks largely to B.F. Skinner's experiments with rewards, levers, and very patient pigeons.
- skinner's pigeons
- learned superstitious dances for random food drops
- variable ratio
- unpredictable rewards hook harder than guaranteed ones
- slot machines
- built entirely on this, not luck
- negative kind
- means removing discomfort, not punishing you