Frances woke up this morning with a horrible toothache. While at work, she avoids interactions with her coworkers. When asked by a work friend if everything is okay, Frances tells her that it hurts too much to talk to people, so she is trying to stay away from people. In this situation, the toothache is most likely a:
A) Discriminative stimulus
B) Motivating operation
C) Negative punisher
D) Negative reinforcer

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A motivating operation (MO) is an environmental variable that alters the effectiveness of some stimulus, object, or event as a reinforcer, and alters the current frequency of all behavior that has been reinforced by that stimulus, object, or event. In Frances's case, the toothache increases the value of avoiding interactions (to reduce pain), which affects her behavior of staying away from people. This makes the toothache a motivating operation, as it changes her behavior by altering how she values interaction under the condition of having a toothache.

Frances Woke Up This Morning with a Horrible Toothache