If I scream at my friend and he leaves, and I do it again to achieve the same outcome, what process of reinforcement is at work?

The scenario describes a situation where screaming at a friend results in them leaving, and the behavior (screaming) is repeated to achieve the same outcome (the friend leaving). This aligns with the concept of social negative reinforcement.

In this context, the screaming can be viewed as an aversive stimulus that the friend seeks to escape by leaving. The repeated behavior of screaming is reinforced because it successfully eliminates the presence of the friend, which is perceived as unpleasant. In essence, the individual learns that by continuing to scream, they can avoid or reduce the interaction, thus reinforcing the behavior over time.

Social negative reinforcement specifically involves removing an adverse condition as a result of a behavior, which, in this case, is the friend leaving to escape the unpleasantness of being screamed at. This aligns well with principles of operant conditioning, where behaviors are increased or decreased based on the consequences they produce in social contexts.