So we know what reinforcement is and we know that for it to be considered reinforcement the behavior needs to increase. Let’s take it one step further with our next term, differential reinforcement. Differential reinforcement is when you reinforce one behavior and put another on extinction. Let’s say that your child perseverates (repeats) on the same statement and you want to decrease the statement. If you used differential reinforcement you would take away all attention from the repeated statement and praise the child anytime they say something else or have quiet moments. 

Common ways that you can use differential reinforcement include reinforcing an alternate behavior, reinforcing an incompatible behavior, or reinforcing low rates of the behavior. An example of reinforcing an alternate behavior is when you praise the child for making a different statement as appose to the repeated statement. An example of incompatible behavior is when the child engages in quiet time because being quiet and repeating the same statement cannot occur at the same time. And differential reinforcement of low rates is just as it sounds, reinforce when less statements are made. 

Differential reinforcement might be the key to making a behavior change within your little one. I would always suggest trying all forms of differential reinforcement before implementing a punishment procedure.