Page 145 of Vexatious Queen

“Sleep it is. You two put me out of commission,” I said, making them chuckle. “I love you both so much. Please tell me you know that?”

“Aye, Snowflake, I know, and I love you, too.”

“Same, I love you, too,” Blake said, his eyes fluttering closed.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to fall asleep. The sound of their deep, restful breathing called to me to do the same. But my mind refused to turn off, and every time I closed my eyes, all I could see were the text messages. What or who was this new threat? Blake was making plans for us, and I loved that, but first, we needed to survive through graduation, and right now, that seemed like a very long time away.

FEBRUARY 18 – WEDNESDAY 3:40 PM

Ren

“Ren, can I get your help over here?”

When I looked up from my laptop, Rory had his finger raised in the air. He had come in at the beginning of my office hour for Sharpe, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure if he was here of his own volition or if this was Nash’s way of keeping me guarded at all times. He’d asked some very good questions, so for now, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt that he actually needed me.

“Sure, what is the issue,” I asked, shutting my computer off and walking over to his table. I looked down to see what he was working on.

“I’m really stuck on operant conditioning,” Rory said.

“Okay, what part is giving you trouble,” I asked, pulling up a seat.

“I keep mixing up positive and negative reinforcement, and then punishment adds another layer of confusion. It all sounds like the same thing to me,” Rory said, tossing his pen down on the desk.

He leaned back in his chair, looking genuinely frustrated.

“That’s actually super common, so don’t let it get to you. Operant conditioning is about how consequences shape behavior. The key is to ask two questions…is something added or taken away? And does the behavior increase or decrease?”

Rory took a deep breath and hit me with the look that said he’d rather be anywhere else.

“That’s where I get lost. Like, negative reinforcement sounds bad, so I assume it means punishment, but apparently it doesn’t? How is that possible?”

“Negative is a word we automatically attribute to being something bad, but negative reinforcement isn’t bad. Just think of it like something is being removed. If a behavior increases because something unpleasant goes away, that’s negative reinforcement. Like, buckling your seatbelt to stop the annoying beeping.”

“How about cleaning my gun and locking it up so my father stops nagging me the moment I walk in the house?”

Okay, I was not expecting that scenario.

“Um…sure, that works too.”

He smiled. “I’m joking, but I love the look on your face.”

“Thanks.” I shook my head but smiled back.

“Okay, so back to the seatbelt. Technically, it increases my behavior because I want the noise to stop…that’s the reinforcement part, not punishment?”

“Exactly. Punishment is different because it decreases a behavior. If you get a speeding ticket and it makes you speed less, that’s a punishment. The ticket is added, so it’s a positive punishment.”

Rory snorted. “Not very positive to me. He can keep the damn ticket.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Seriously, though, I think I get it. So positive or negative just means something was added or removed from the situation, and reinforcement or punishment is about whether the behavior goes up or down in frequency?”

“Yes, that is it exactly. If you can look at every question the exam gives you with that framework, then the questions get a lot easier. You’re not as lost as you think.”

He smirked. “Thanks, teach,” he teased.

“No problem.”