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Examples of what operant procedure?

A. washing the dishes to avoid your father yelling at you

B. using a condom to avoid contracting an STD

C. taking cough drops to get rid of a sore throat

D. paying your car insurance on time to prevent cancellation of your policy

User Rudiger
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Final answer:

The provided examples are instances of negative reinforcement, a type of operant conditioning where a behavior is increased by avoiding an unpleasant stimulus. Negative reinforcement intends to increase the likelihood of a behavior's future occurrence by removing or preventing a negative outcome.

Step-by-step explanation:

The examples provided represent instances of operant conditioning, a learning process where behaviors are influenced by the consequences that follow. Operant conditioning involves either reinforcement or punishment to increase or decrease the likelihood of a behavior occurring again. Here are the examples with their corresponding operant procedures:

  • A. Washing the dishes to avoid your father yelling at you – This is an example of negative reinforcement, where the behavior (washing dishes) is reinforced through the removal of an unpleasant stimulus (yelling).
  • B. Using a condom to avoid contracting an STD – This is, again, negative reinforcement, because an undesirable event (contracting an STD) is prevented by a specific behavior (using a condom).
  • C. Taking cough drops to get rid of a sore throat – This could be considered as negative reinforcement since the behavior (taking cough drops) removes the discomfort (sore throat).
  • D. Paying your car insurance on time to prevent cancellation of your policy – This represents negative reinforcement as the action (paying insurance) prevents a negative consequence (policy cancellation).

Negative reinforcement is intended to increase the frequency of a behavior by removing or avoiding a negative outcome or stimulus. On the other hand, classical conditioning involves learning through association and does not necessarily consider the consequence of behavior as a direct factor, as displayed in Pavlov's experiments with dogs.

Another aspect of operant conditioning is positive reinforcement, where behavior is increased by providing a rewarding stimulus following the behavior, as seen when rewarding a child with a toy for cleaning their room or rewarding students with money for reading books and passing quizzes.

User AleXelton
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