Tyler's grandmother used to receive emails from him every day so she would check her inbox regularly. Since Tyler went off to college, the emails have basically stopped. As a result, she no longer checks her inbox on a daily basis. If this pattern continues, we can expect ________ to occur.
A) classical conditioning
B) contiguity
C) renewal
D) extinction

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The scenario described is an example of extinction, which is the gradual decrease in the frequency or strength of a learned response due to the lack of reinforcement or connection with a specific stimulus. In this case, Tyler's emails served as the reinforcement for the grandmother's behavior of checking her inbox, but without the emails, the behavior is no longer reinforced and therefore gradually decreases.

Tyler's Grandmother Used to Receive Emails from Him Every Day