Question

Now consider another theory on motivation: reinforcement theory. suppose your employer is becoming increasingly concerned with the number of employees that arrive late for their shifts. your manager announces that they will give $1,000 to every employee who arrives on time for their shift for five days in a row. your manager also says that they will deduct $20 from every employee’s paycheck for every day they are late to their shift. the deduction of $20 would be considered a:

a) Positive reinforcement
b) Negative reinforcement
c) Punishment
d) Extinction

Answer 1

The deduction of $20 for being late is considered punishment because it decreases the likelihood of the behavior (i.e., being late) by adding an undesirable consequence.

Therefore, the correct answer is: option c) Punishment

Step-by-step explanation:

In operant conditioning, a punishment is any consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring.

Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning, is a method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behavior. Through operant conditioning, behavior that is rewarded is likely to be repeated, and behavior that is punished will rarely occur.

Therefore, in this case deduction of $20 from every employee's paycheck for every day they are late to their shift would be considered a punishment.

In this case, the negative financial consequence is intended to reduce the frequency of employees arriving late.

The concept is different from negative reinforcement, which would involve removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior.

Here, the deduction is not removing anything to encourage the desired behavior, but rather it is imposing an undesirable consequence to discourage lateness.