Question

When a dog pulls on the leash I stop and take a 5 second timeout, taking away the dog's ability to head towards where it wants to go:

a) Negative punishment
b) Negative reinforcement
c) Positive punishment
d) Positive reinforcement

Answer 1

The action of stopping a dog from advancing by taking a timeout when it pulls on the leash is an example of negative punishment.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a dog pulls on the leash and the owner stops, taking a 5 second timeout to prevent the dog from heading towards its desired destination, this is an example of negative punishment. This psychological concept is part of operant conditioning, where negative denotes the removal of a stimulus, and punishment indicates a decrease in behavior. In this case, the pleasant experience of moving towards an enticing location is taken away to decrease the behavior of leash pulling.