Frank flings a paper airplane through the air in history class. All of the students laugh. Their teacher, Mr. Curtis, becomes irate; his face turns beet red, and large veins bulge from his neck. "Frank!" Mr. Curtis screams, "You are in big trouble now!" Frank really doesn't care about the trouble. The combination of the attention from the students and the emotional reaction from Mr. Curtis was plenty to keep him misbehaving far into the future. Throwing the paper airplane, then, was:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Frank's behavior of throwing the paper airplane was positively reinforced because the attention and laughter from his peers served as a reward for his behavior, thus increasing the likelihood of him doing it again in the future. The fact that Mr. Curtis became angry may have even further reinforced Frank's behavior because it added an element of excitement and rebellion. However, it was not positively punished because there was no punishment involved, and it was not negatively reinforced or punished because there was no removal or addition of a stimulus to increase or decrease the behavior.

Frank Flings a Paper Airplane Through the Air in History