Question

Don was in the habit of reprimanding employees when they arrived late for work. The second time an employee was late, he or she would be docked pay. Don is using which type of reinforcement?

a. positive
b. negative
c. punishment
d. extinction
e. critical incident

Answer 1

Don uses negative punishment in operant conditioning by docking pay to decrease the behavior of employees arriving late for work.

Step-by-step explanation:

Don is using a form of operant conditioning known as negative punishment. This is because, when an employee arrives late for work, Don is removing a pleasant stimulus (part of the employee's pay) to decrease the behavior of arriving late. This differs from negative reinforcement, which aims to increase a behavior by removing a negative stimulus, and positive punishment, which adds an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior.

Negative sanctions and punishments are both tools for enforcing rules or norms. Negative sanctions serve as punishments for violating norms, while the type of operant conditioning used by Don involves specific consequences tied to an individual's behavior within the context of workplace expectations.