Question

Which of the following best illustrates the concept of negative reinforcement?

1) A man ingests an aspirin to rid himself of a strong headache.
2) A woman injects heroin into her veins to obtain a "rush."
3) A rat presses a lever that results in delivery of shock through the floor of the chamber.
4) A hungry rat presses a lever to obtain a food pellet.
5) A child is sent to his room after screaming at the dinner table.

Answer 1

The best example of negative reinforcement is a man taking aspirin to eliminate a headache, as it involves removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase the desired behavior of taking aspirin for pain relief. So, the correct answer is option 1.

Step-by-step explanation:

The concept of negative reinforcement is best illustrated by the following example: A man ingests an aspirin to rid himself of a strong headache. This scenario shows that an undesirable stimulus (the headache) is removed, which increases the likelihood that the man will take aspirin in the future when confronted with a headache.

Negative reinforcement involves taking away an unpleasant stimulus to increase a desired behavior, while punishment, on the other hand, seeks to decrease a behavior by either presenting an undesirable stimulus (positive punishment) or removing a desirable stimulus (negative punishment).

It is crucial to understand the difference; negative reinforcement is aimed at increasing the frequency of a behavior by removing a negative condition, unlike punishment, which aims to decrease behavior.

For example, in horse training, applying pressure through the reins or rider's legs (negative stimulus) and then removing it when the horse performs the desired action increases the likelihood of the horse repeating that action. This is a form of negative reinforcement, just as using aspirin to eliminate a headache encourages that behavior in the future.