Ray Berry likes his friend and fellow student, Jeff Jones, but Jeff always wants to talk about his days as a high school football hero because it makes him the center of attention. Ray has discovered that if he politely ignores Jeff when he begins to tell the stories and encourages others to do so as well, Jeff soon quits relating the stories. This is BEST described as ________.
A) social learning
B) shaping
C) extinction
D) negative reinforcement

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This scenario describes the process of extinction, which is the gradual decrease and eventual disappearance of a behavior when it is no longer reinforced. In this case, Jeff's behavior of telling stories about his high school football days decreases as it is no longer reinforced by getting attention from Ray and others. This is not an example of social learning, shaping, or negative reinforcement.

Ray Berry Likes His Friend and Fellow Student, Jeff Jones