Whenever Jan tries to talk on the telephone, her five-year-old daughter Isabel repeatedly interrupts her. If Jan wanted to use the strategy of reinforcing the non-occurrence of the problem behavior, she should:
A)politely ask Isabel to please stop interrupting her every time the bad behavior occurs.
B)send Isabel to a corner every time she interrupted Jan while she is on the phone.
C)reward Isabel for not interrupting her during a phone call.
D)tell her friend that she would call her back and immediately attend to whatever it was that Isabel wanted.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Reinforcing the non-occurrence of the problem behavior means rewarding the behavior that is desirable. In this scenario, the desirable behavior is for Isabel to not interrupt her mother while she's on the phone. Therefore, the best strategy would be to reward Isabel for not interrupting her. This could be in the form of positive praise or a small reward after the phone call is over. Option A is not an effective strategy as simply asking Isabel to stop interrupting may not be enough to change her behavior. Option B is punishment, which is not the most effective way to change behavior in this situation. Option D is not an effective strategy as it rewards the problem behavior by giving Isabel immediate attention every time she interrupts her mother.

Whenever Jan Tries to Talk on the Telephone, Her Five-Year-Old