A woman no longer receives compliments on the perfume that she wears. In learning terms, the stimulus-response connection has weakened. Which of the following processes best explains what has occurred in the example?
A) negative reinforcement
B) extinction
C) discrimination
D) generalization

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Extinction refers to the weakening of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus (perfume) is no longer associated with the unconditioned stimulus (compliments). In this example, the lack of compliments leads to a weakening of the response to the perfume, which is a form of extinction. Negative reinforcement refers to the removal of an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior, discrimination refers to the ability to distinguish between similar stimuli, and generalization refers to the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.

A Woman No Longer Receives Compliments on the Perfume That