A child learns to whine to get items at the store because when she whines,her parents get frustrated and give her the desired items.She is being rewarded for her whining,but her parents do not seem to realize this and are frustrated because the whining is increasing.This is an example of ______ conditioning.
A) operant
B) classical
C) behavior
D) unconscious

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In operant conditioning, behaviors are strengthened or weakened based on the consequences that follow them. In this case, the child's whining behavior is being positively reinforced (strengthened) because it results in her receiving the desired items from her parents. The parents may not be aware that they are inadvertently reinforcing the whining behavior, which is why they are becoming more frustrated by it. Classical conditioning involves pairing a neutral stimulus with a reflex response to eventually produce a new conditioned response, and behavior conditioning and unconscious conditioning are not commonly used terms in psychology.

A Child Learns to Whine to Get Items at the Store