Question

A 5-year-old is given a 5-minute time-out for throwing spaghetti all over a new white tablecloth. This is an example of:

a. Punishment.
b. Positive reinforcement.
c. Negative reinforcement.
d. Response cost.
e. A lot of restraint on the part of the child's parents.

Answer 1

A 5-year-old's time-out for throwing spaghetti represents negative punishment, where a pleasant stimulus is removed to decrease undesirable behavior.

Step-by-step explanation:

The scenario with the 5-year-old being given a 5-minute time-out for throwing spaghetti is an example of negative punishment. This type of punishment involves the removal of a pleasant stimulus (in this case, the ability to engage in any enjoyable activity) to decrease the frequency of an undesirable behavior (throwing spaghetti). The goal is to teach the child that their current behavior will result in the loss of something enjoyable, thus encouraging them to change their behavior in the future. This is different from negative reinforcement, which would involve the removal of an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a positive behavior.