A child would normally eat candy for 20 minutes of each hour and play pinball for 40 minutes.According to the minimum deviation model, if the child is required on average to play pinball for 50 minutes in order to eat candy for 20 minutes, the child will most likely distribute its behavior to
A)play pinball for 50 minutes to gain access to 20 minutes of candy.
B)play pinball for only 40 minutes for less than 20 minutes of candy.
C)play pinball for between 40 and 50 minutes for less than 20 minutes of candy.
D)play pinball for more than 50 minutes to get as much candy as possible.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to the minimum deviation model, the child will engage in the behavior that is closest to their preferred time allocation while still achieving the desired outcome. In this case, the child's preferred time allocation is to play pinball for 40 minutes and eat candy for 20 minutes, which totals to the child's hourly cycle of 60 minutes. However, if the child needs to play pinball for 50 minutes to gain access to 20 minutes of candy, then the child will most likely deviate from their preferred time allocation and play pinball for a bit longer than 40 minutes. Option C suggests that the child is likely to play pinball between 40 and 50 minutes to receive less than 20 minutes of candy. This adjustment would still allow the child to engage in both behaviors but with a longer time spent playing pinball. Options A and D are less likely because the child is unlikely to change their behavior dramatically, but instead will try to adjust to the minimum extent necessary to achieve the desired goal. Option B is also less likely since the child cannot access 20 minutes of candy within a 40-minute pinball playing time which is their preferred behavior.

A Child Would Normally Eat Candy for 20 Minutes of Each