Final answer:
Reinforcement is what causes a behavior to be repeated or inhibited, a concept heavily featured in the study of operant conditioning and the law of effect.
Step-by-step explanation:
Anything that causes a given behavior to be repeated or inhibited is known as reinforcement. This concept, particularly used in the context of psychology and behavioral studies, refers to the consequence that follows a behavior that will increase (or decrease) the likelihood of that behavior being repeated in the future. Operant conditioning, a form of associative learning, leverages reinforcement to encourage desirable behaviors through positive or negative reinforcers, or discourages undesirable ones through punishment.
Cognitive learning, in contrast, occurs when an animal or person learns a behavior in response to a positive or negative stimulus. An example of operant conditioning is when a dolphin performs a flip after hearing a whistle and receives a fish as a reward, which reinforces the behavior of flipping on the whistle signal. This process is based on the law of effect, which states behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated.