Question

Tim yells at his two-year-old daughter Allison for soiling her pants. He also threatens to spank her if she ever does it again. Next week, she soils her pants again.

According to studies on punishment, why did Tim's approach fail?

a. The threat was a reinforcer.
b. The punishment did not tell her how to change her behavior.
c. Allison wasn't punished immediately.
d. Yelling is not a form of punishment.

Answer 1

B. The punishment did not tell her how to change her behavior.

Step-by-step explanation:

Correcting someone for behaving badly without telling the person how to change the behavior doesn't change anything, because the person is still likely to repeat the behavior. So because Allison was not told how to change her behavior that made her to still behave in that manner again.

Most times when you correct someone also tell them the consequences of their actions and how to behave in a better way. That way, the person will find it hard to repeat that behavour.