AP PSYCHOLOGY

LEARNING

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Which of the following is an example of positive punishment?
A
Not letting a misbehaving student go to recess
B
Giving a gold star to a student who does good work.
C
Taking away recess and giving study hall to a student who didn’t finish his homework
D
Writing the name of a misbehaving student on the chalkboard
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -For example, spanking a child when he throws a tantrum is an example of positive punishment. Something is added to the mix (spanking) to discourage a bad behavior (throwing a tantrum). On the other hand, removing restrictions from a child when she follows the rules is an example of negative reinforcement.

Detailed explanation-2: -Positive punishment means something is added to the situation to decrease the behavior. For example, if a student talks out of turn in class, the teacher could respond by adding detention after school.

Detailed explanation-3: -Positive punishment is a type of operant conditioning, a theory proposed by psychologist B.F Skinner. Its main purpose is to reduce the future frequency of the behavior by applying an aversive stimulus after the behavior occurs. Positive punishment in psychology is what we refer to as “punishment” in everyday life.

Detailed explanation-4: -An example of positive punishment is scolding a student to get the student to stop texting in class. In this case, a stimulus (the reprimand) is added in order to decrease the behavior (texting in class). In negative punishment, you remove a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior.

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