In operant conditioning, a reinforcer is a stimulus or event that increases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it, and a punisher is a stimulus or event that decreases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it.
Suppose you are the mayor of a suburban town and you want to institute some new policies to decrease the number of drivers who speed on residential streets.
How might you use punishment to decrease the behavior you desire ( speeding)?
How might you use reinforcement to increase the behavior you desire ( safe driving)?
Based on the principles of operant conditioning you read about in this chapter, which approach do you think might be most fruitful?