Question

Olivia is punished for spilling her cereal. Her parents give her a spanking and send her to her room where she cries. Later, her puppy makes a mess on the floor. Olivia kicks her puppy and puts it out in the yard where it whines sadly.

Which of the following statements explains her behavior toward the puppy?
a) Olivia is correctly applying Skinnerian principles of negative reinforcement to change her dog's behavior.
b) Olivia is using negative punishment on her dog and it will change the dog's behavior.
c) Olivia is modeling the aggressive behavior her parents demonstrated to her.
d) Olivia's parents probably think that the best way to raise kids is "spare the rod, spoil the child."

Answer 1

Answer: c) Olivia is modeling the aggressive behavior her parents demonstrated to her.

Step-by-step explanation:

Olivia seems to be modeling the behavior of her parents, meaning she imitates the way they handled her wrongdoing. The parents most likely were following Burrhus Frederic Skinner´s operant conditioning method, hoping that punishment could weaken Olivia´s behavior.

We are not provided information about the effect the spanking had on Olivia´s spilling cereal issues, but it sure taught her to use punishment as a resource to train her dog.

Answer 2

The correct answer is:

c) Olivia is modeling the aggressive behavior her parents demonstrated to her.

Step-by-step explanation:

Normally, in psychology according to Milgram (1963) this kind of behavior has to do with the obedience response. He mentioned in his theory, that there are several factors that influence this kind of conduct. Some of the variable that can determined obedience behavior are feedback, proximity, physical contact, among others.