Question

ana
i think we’re done with what dr. rey needed us to do today.
but, before you go, i need some advice.
ana
my roommate is driving me crazy. every morning she leaves her wet towel on the bathroom floor. i’ve asked her, again and again, to hang it up. she says she will, but she never does. do you think we could use operant conditioning to fix this?
yes, let’s try positive punishment to decrease her bad behavior of leaving the towel on the floor.
yes, let’s try negative reinforcement to increase her good behavior of hanging up the towel.
yes, let’s try negative punishment to decrease her bad behavior of leaving the towel on the floor.
yes, let’s try positive reinforcement to increase her good behavior of hanging up the towel.

Explanation:

Positive reinforcement involves adding a desirable stimulus to increase the likelihood of a target behavior repeating. Here, reinforcing the roommate's good behavior (hanging up the towel) with a positive reward (e.g., a nice note, helping with a chore) is a low-conflict, constructive way to encourage the desired action, which is more effective for building consistent positive habits than punishment-focused methods.

Answer:

Yes, let's try positive reinforcement to increase her good behavior of hanging up the towel.