Is it +R or R+?
You Know It Means “Positive Reinforcement”, But Does the Plus Sign Come BEFORE or AFTER the R??!
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You’ve been researching using Positive Reinforcement with your horse. You’ve tried it out and it’s amazing how your horse has woken up and started connecting with you.
But there’s this one little thing that keeps niggling at you. Does that Plus sign come before the R, or AFTER the R?
You aren’t alone in wondering about this. And you definitely aren’t alone if putting that plus sign in front of the R makes sense to you. It’s Positive Reinforcement, right? Obviously the plus sign means positive, and in English the adjective modifies the noun, so a shorthand way to write “positive reinforcement” would be +R, of course.
Why would anyone put the plus sign AFTER the R, then? Well, because…science. Within the world of behavioral science, the plus sign doesn’t actually mean “positive” in the way we usually think about it as something good or nice. It’s more like a mathematical notation. Something is being added.
The concept of “Reinforcement” means that the likelihood of a future behavior is strengthened. (The opposing concept is “Punishment,” which means that the likelihood of a future behavior is weakened.)
In this scientific sense, “positive” or “negative” isn’t used as a grammatical adjective that modifies the word after it. It’s a mathematical descriptor that predicts future behavior:
- R+ Reinforcement — something rewarding is added as a result of the behavior = more of this behavior is likely in the future
- R- Reinforcement — something aversive/unpleasant is removed as a result of the behavior = more of this behavior is likely in the future
- P+ Punishment — something aversive/unpleasant is added as a result of the behavior = less of this behavior likely in the future
- P- Punishment — something rewarding is removed as a result of the behavior = less of this behavior likely in the future
What’s the difference in the end? R+ is correct in a technical and behavioral sense, so that’s what we use at Via Nova. +R is a more casual shorthand that developed because it makes grammatical sense to English speakers.
I use “arp” (like a seal barking!) to remember to use R+.
Now you can sleep at night!