A mother frequently picks up her crying infant boy because the baby typically stops crying as soon as he is held.In this case,the mother is ________ when her son stops crying.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The mother is using negative reinforcement because she is removing the aversive stimulus (crying) by picking up the baby, which increases the likelihood of her repeating this behavior in the future. It is not positive punishment because she is not adding an aversive stimulus to decrease the behavior of crying. It is not negatively punished because she is not removing a desired stimulus to decrease the behavior of crying. It is not positive reinforcement because the behavior of the mother (picking up the baby) is not increasing the behavior of crying.

A Mother Frequently Picks Up Her Crying Infant Boy Because