Final answer:
To determine if attendance at sports events is an operant reinforcer for a teenager, it must increase the likelihood of the behavior it follows to recur, based on principles of operant conditioning.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine whether attendance at sports events is an operant reinforcer for a teenager, such attendance would have to increase the probability of recurrence of the behavior it followed. This aligns with the principles of operant conditioning, where behaviors are strengthened by reinforcement. In the context of operant conditioning, a reinforcer is any event that strengthens or increases the behavior it follows. The correct answer to the question is therefore (c) increase the probability of recurrence of the behavior it followed.
An example is if a teenager studies harder after being told they can attend a sports event for achieving good grades, and as a result, their study habits improve. The attendance at the sports event acts as a reinforcer for the studying behavior. This is neither related to a basic biological need as in primary reinforcers like food or water (answer a), nor universally rewarding (answer b), which suggests that every individual finds it rewarding, nor does it necessarily need to meet a comprehensive list that includes adaptability and reliability as suggested in answer (d).