What term refers to the removal of a stimulus following a response that increases the likelihood of that response in the future?

The correct term for the removal of a stimulus following a response that increases the likelihood of that response in the future is negative reinforcement. In negative reinforcement, an aversive or unpleasant stimulus is removed after a desired behavior occurs, which serves to strengthen that behavior.

For instance, if a child cleans their room to avoid being nagged by their parents (the unpleasant stimulus), the removal of the nagging will likely encourage the child to clean their room again in the future. This demonstrates how removing an undesirable condition supports the continuation of the target behavior, illustrating the principle of negative reinforcement effectively.

Positive reinforcement refers to providing a pleasant stimulus to increase a behavior, while negative punishment involves taking away a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior. Aversive reinforcement is not a standard term used in behavior analysis. Therefore, negative reinforcement correctly captures the concept of increasing the likelihood of a behavior by removing an unpleasant stimulus.