Janice is trying to stop smoking. So her doctor set her up with a device that can detect when she reaches for a cigarette. The device produces a very low-level but annoying electric shock as she wears it. If she does not reach for a cigarette for 1 minute, the shock stops. This treatment is attempting to help Janice by using

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Negative reinforcement is used here because the annoying electric shock (an aversive stimulus) is removed when Janice refrains from reaching for a cigarette, which increases the likelihood that she will repeat this behavior (not reaching for a cigarette) to avoid the shock.

Janice Is Trying to Stop Smoking