There are different ways of reinforcing.
There is positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.
To remember the difference between these two types of reinforcement, it helps to understand how these terms are used.
Positive means to add or to get something. Negative means to take away or remove something.
In the example of the girl cleaning her room, the child was given something desirable, money.
Her receiving the money is meant to be positive; it makes cleaning the room more likely.
This is positive reinforcement as indicated by the plus sign.
Try another example. You go to the beach and get sunburned. It is painful.
Next time you go to the beach, you put on sunscreen. This prevents the pain. Pain is removed.
The removal is what is meant by negative; the absence of pain might make you more likely to use sunscreen in the future.
This is negative reinforcement as indicated by the minus sign.