Don ' t be sorry , I am interested in how to use the terminology properly , I don ' t find it easy . I . e . your alarm clock rings and you turn it off negative reinforcement . I . e . you are cold and you ask for your coat and put it on negative reinforcement . In the a n t e cedentbehaviorconsequence model , the consequence must be something occurs after the behavior . In this case , the natural consequence is that the cold goes away after asking for the coat and putting it on . That was my thinking . But I guess one could assume that the behavior desired by the mom is for the kid to put the coat on before leaving the building in order to avoid the punishing cold . Similarly , if the alarm conditions you to wake up early and avoid the alarm before it goes off , then the alarm is a punishment not a negative reinforcement . At any rate , if the kid goes out without the coat and then asked for the coat after being in the cold for a while , then that is negative reinforcement . Once on a cold Florida morning I was going to an early spring training baseball game with my stepkid . He refused a coat so I carried one along . After setting in the stands for a while and getting cold , he put on the coat without any coercion from me .