Behavior revisited

ANYTHING that is reinforced, is likely to occur again.
This is true for all sane behavior. Be it human or animal.
Lets us get better acquainted with reinforcement. What is reinforcement? A reinforcer is a stimulus that follows a behavior. Now there are two kinds of reinforcement - positive and negative. Positive reinforcement is when something (a stimulus) happens after a behavior - causing that behavior to strengthen.
Negative reinforcement is when something (a stimulus) is removed - causing the behavior to strengthen.
Yes... you read that right. BOTH cause the behavior to strengthen.
For example:
Positive reinforcement - if a person gives a dog a treat every time he lays down - he will start to throw that behavior to them. He will lay down more and more... if they continue to positively reinforce his behavior.
Negative reinforcement (escape) - if a mouse is being shocked and realizes that pushing a lever makes the shock go away... the mouse will push the lever.
Negative reinforcement (avoidance) - if a person knows that when the buzzer goes off, he has ten seconds to push a button before a loud annoying sound plays over loud speakers - the person will push the button to avoid the sound.
One more example of both positive and negative reinforcement is a parent and child at the store. On the child's side of things if they give out a negative reinforcer such as screaming; in order to avoid the child's 'fit' a parent will hand the child something from the store (candy, toy, games), increasing the chances that the next visit to the store...the child will apply the negative reinforcer. On the parents side of things if they positively reinforce negative behavior (a screaming fit) with something the child wants - it increases the chances that they get exactly what they are reinforcing... a screaming fit. This is what you call a double whammy!!

So now, go out and with an animal or a person you interact with daily - list a behavior that you find annoying. Then take a look at yourself and at the situation and try to figure out WHAT you could be doing to reinforce it.
You might see what is reinforcing the behavior - if you do... you can simply stop reinforcing it. You might have a hard time finding what is reinforcing the behavior - if this happens... list an opposite behavior. Ask yourself, "What behavior would I like to have in its place?" When you know what it is... start reinforcing it. For example: when taking a child to the store you can simply stop reinforcing the child and let them cry. At the same time you can have a bag of raisins or a deck of Old Maid cards in your purse and when she is quiet (even for a second) you can say..."oh thank you for being a good shopper" as you hand over ONE raisin or ONE card. Reinforcing her quiet behavior - reinforce as many times as you can as you walk through the store.
Just note: 'reinforcing good behavior' as many times as possible should happen a few times. After that...we switch to the 'variable reinforcement schedule' (yes...go ahead and look that up!)
The unwanted behavior would become extinct if they didn't get a reinforcement out of it and/or a more wanted behavior can be reinforced; time to become a detective!