A teacher originally wanted to increase class participation, so she positively reinforced question asking with nickels. After a few days, students had stacks of nickels on their desks, and the class was asking far too many questions. The teacher decided things were better off when the students didn't ask so many questions. To reduce question asking, the teacher has several options available to her. She could approach the students' desks and physically remove a nickel from their stacks whenever they ask a question, a process known as _____. Or, she could simply no longer give students nickels when they ask questions, a process termed _____.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The teacher initially used positive reinforcement by giving nickels for question asking. The best way to decrease the behavior is to use negative punishment by taking away the nickel (removing a desirable stimulus) or extinction by no longer giving nickels (removing the reinforcing stimulus altogether). Option B correctly identifies these two options in the correct order. Option A incorrectly suggests using extinction first and then negative punishment, while option C suggests using positive punishment, which would involve adding an aversive stimulus to decrease the behavior, which is not desirable in this case. Option D suggests using positive punishment followed by extinction, which is also not the best approach.

A Teacher Originally Wanted to Increase Class Participation, So She