In operant conditioning, what is the purpose of reinforcement?

In operant conditioning, reinforcement serves the crucial purpose of increasing the likelihood that a specific behavior will be repeated in the future. When a behavior is followed by a reinforcing stimulus—such as praise, rewards, or positive outcomes—it strengthens the association between that behavior and the positive consequence. This is fundamental to learning and behavior modification since individuals are more likely to repeat actions that yield favorable results.

The other options, although related to behavioral strategies, do not accurately describe the role of reinforcement within operant conditioning. Discouraging a behavior pertains more to punishment, which aims to decrease behavior, while measuring the effectiveness of a stimulus does not directly reflect the reinforcement process. The idea of eliminating unwanted behaviors completely aligns more with aversive strategies rather than the primary goal of reinforcement, which is to encourage behavior repetition.