Estella is afraid of cats. To help her overcome her fear, her mother calmly pets and strokes a cat while Estella is watching. Her mother encourages her to imitate her behavior. Estella's mother is using ________.

Question

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Estella's mother is using modeling, which refers to learning by observing and imitating the behavior of others. Estella is encouraged to imitate her mother's behavior towards cats in an attempt to overcome her fear. Reinforcement involves rewarding desired behavior to increase the likelihood of it being repeated, whereas token economy involves a system of rewards where desired behaviors earn tokens that can be exchanged for privileges or rewards. Extinction refers to reducing the frequency of behavior by removing the reinforcement or reward that had previously been associated with it. None of these concepts apply to Estella's situation as described in the scenario.

Estella Is Afraid of Cats