Glossary
Remove reward
What does “remove reward” mean?
The technique “remove reward” means stopping a reward that had been contingent on an unwanted behavior. The taxonomy associates this with extinction.
Removing rewards and extinction
Identifying what actually maintains the behavior matters. A desired reduction is an outcome to measure, not a guarantee. This definition does not justify withholding essential care or ignoring distress.
Illustrative example
A team stops giving a discretionary prize for a shortcut it is trying to discourage and separately measures whether the shortcut becomes less common.
Taxonomy definition
The original BCT Taxonomy v1 definitions identify this as technique 14.3.