Bennie is afraid of snakes.He won't even look at pictures of them in a book,turning the page or closing the book instead.When he sees a picture of a snake,his anxiety goes up,but when he avoids looking at the picture,his anxiety goes down.It is most correct to say that Bennie's avoidance behaviour is being:
A)punished because he feels anxious after doing so.
B)punished because he will never get better.
C)positively reinforced because he is rewarded by his anxiety going down.
D)negatively reinforced because he is rewarded by his anxiety going down.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Bennie's behaviour of avoiding looking at pictures of snakes is being negatively reinforced because he is being rewarded by the reduction of his anxiety. By avoiding the picture, his anxiety decreases, which reinforces his behaviour of avoiding. Over time, this behaviour can become more and more established as the anxiety reduction acts as a reward for the behaviour.

Bennie Is Afraid of Snakes