Your spouse becomes moody and stops paying attention to you every time you start to criticize the way that he or she drives.Eventually you stop criticizing your spouse's driving.What might Skinner suggest that the withdrawal of attention acted as?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Skinner would suggest that the withdrawal of attention acted as a punisher. This is because the behavior of criticizing the spouse's driving was followed by the aversive consequence of receiving no attention, which led to a decrease in the frequency of the behavior. This is an example of negative punishment, which involves removing a desirable stimulus (attention) to decrease the likelihood of a behavior occurring again.

Your Spouse Becomes Moody and Stops Paying Attention to You