In the Past Dating Was a Fairly Simple Activity in the United

question 53

Essay

In the past dating was a fairly simple activity in the United States. If there was someone you wanted to go out with you would call them or ask them to go out for dinner and a movie. Nowadays it appears that many people are willing to pay large amounts of money to professional dating services to find a compatible mate. This idea is not a new one but it has increased quite dramatically in popularity. What does this suggest about what kind of good dating services might be and why? Are we likely to find this type of service be more or less prevalent in poorer countries?

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Definitions:

Fixed-ratio

A schedule of reinforcement where a response is only reinforced after a specific number of responses, common in behaviorist psychology.

Fixed-interval

A schedule of reinforcement where the first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed.

Negative Reinforcer

A stimulus whose removal or avoidance following a behavior increases the likelihood of that behavior being repeated in the future.

Increases

A process or action that causes something to become larger, more numerous, or more significant.