Mary and Jim took their two-year-old to the supermarket this past week. For more than an hour all Little Jimmy did was yell and scream because in the past this would have obtained him an ice cream cone. Jim managed to ignore him. Finally, Little Jimmy stopped yelling and screaming. What operant conditioning concept is illustrated by this story?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The behavior of Little Jimmy was previously reinforced with an ice cream cone, but since Jim stopped giving it to him, the behavior stopped. This is an example of extinction, which is the process of reducing the frequency of a behavior by no longer reinforcing it.

Mary and Jim Took Their Two-Year-Old to the Supermarket This