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:

Price Floor

A government-imposed minimum price level for a particular commodity or service, aimed at protecting producers.

Legal Minimum

A legally established lower threshold for payments or conditions, such as minimum wage.

Good Sold

Refers to a product that has been purchased by a buyer from a seller in a transaction.

Nonbinding Price Floor

A minimum price set by law above which the market price can lie, without any impact on the market price because the floor is set below equilibrium.