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Negative Reinforcement
When we say that something is being negatively reinforced, we are just saying that our subject is making that response because it allows him to get rid of (or avoid, or escape from) something he does not want. And because it allows him to get rid of something he doesn't want, he will begin to emit that response more often in the future.
For example,if your dog leaves the yard and goes in the house because he was cold when he was outside, then, we say that his leaving the yard was negatively reinforced, because it allowed him to get rid of the cold, which was something that he did not want.
We say that negative reinforcement is the inverse of positive reinforcement, because the dog who leaves the chilly outdoors to get rid of the cold (negative reinforcement), is at the same time, going indoors to gain the warmth, which is a clear case of positive reinforcement . Negative reinforcement is also the inverse of punishment. Hence, there can be no negative reinforcement in any given situation unless there is either an ongoing aversive stimulus or the threat of the same.
Negative reinforcement is an operant procedure.