Kathy Takes Her 2-Year-Old Son to the Supermarket Every Saturday

question 188

Multiple Choice

Kathy takes her 2-year-old son to the supermarket every Saturday. Each week, the same sequence of events unfolds: Her son screams, demanding that Kathy buys him treats. Although she refuses to give in to his demands, he continues to scream. Finally, Kathy yells at the top of her lungs, "QUIET!" He stops screaming instantly. What operant conditioning concepts are illustrated in this story?

• A) Kathy is using negative reinforcement to increase her son's screaming.
• B) Kathy is using punishment to suppress the screaming; her use of punishment is negatively reinforced by the cessation of screaming.
• C) Kathy's son probably learned how to scream by observing his parents at home, and now he is reinforced on a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement.
• D) Kathy's son probably learned how to scream by observing his parents at home, and now he is reinforced on a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement.

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Definitions:

Heuristic

A mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently.

Quasi-reflective Thinker

An individual at a stage of cognitive development where they recognize that some knowledge is uncertain, yet they struggle to integrate this uncertainty into their judgments.

Logical Consistency

The quality of being free from contradictions and logically coherent in argument or theory.

Purely Subjective

Based entirely on personal feelings, tastes, or opinions, without any external objective reference or measurement.