Fred is afraid of spiders.He won't even watch a nature show on TV about them.When he sees a picture of a spider,he has a panic attack,but when he avoids looking at the image,his panic goes away.Fred's avoidance of spiders is being:
A)extinguished because he feels anxious after doing so.
B)positively reinforced through the neutral stimulus of avoidance.
C)positively reinforced because he is rewarded by his anxiety going down.
D)negatively reinforced because he is rewarded by his anxiety going down.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Fred's avoidance of spiders is negatively reinforced because it is a behavior that is being strengthened by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus (anxiety). By avoiding looking at the image, Fred's anxiety goes down, which reinforces the behavior of avoidance.

Fred Is Afraid of Spiders