John's mother wants her son to stop crying every time something goes wrong. Following a psychologist's advice, she stops running to comfort John whenever the boy starts crying over some minor incident. After a few weeks, she notices that John cries much less frequently than he used to. This is an example of
A) positive reinforcement.
B) negative reinforcement.
C) punishment.
D) extinction.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of extinction, which involves the gradual decrease in frequency or elimination of a behavior due to the lack of reinforcement that was previously given. In this case, the mother's lack of immediate comfort as a result of John's crying has led to a decrease in his crying behavior. Positive reinforcement involves the addition of a positive stimulus to increase a behavior, negative reinforcement involves the removal of a negative stimulus to increase a behavior, and punishment involves the addition of a negative stimulus to decrease a behavior. None of these apply to this scenario.

John's Mother Wants Her Son to Stop Crying Every Time