Note: Both questions refer to the same situation.
-Warren has earned himself a reputation for being the class clown. His teacher, Ms. Washington, used to laugh at Warren's funny remarks, but is now trying to discourage Warren's disruptive behavior by ignoring his jokes. In behaviorist terminology, Ms. Washington is now trying to modify Warren's joke-telling behavior through:
A) stimulus discrimination
B) extinction
C) shaping
D) negative reinforcement

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Ms. Washington is attempting to use extinction to modify Warren's behavior. Extinction is a behaviorist term that refers to the gradual decrease of a behavior when it is no longer reinforced. In this case, Ms. Washington used to laugh at Warren's jokes, which reinforced his behavior. However, now that she is ignoring his jokes, there is no longer any reinforcement, and Warren's behavior will eventually decrease.

Note: The other options are not applicable in this situation. Stimulus discrimination refers to a behavior that occurs in the presence of certain stimuli but not others. Shaping involves gradually reinforcing behaviors that are closer and closer to the desired behavior, and negative reinforcement involves increasing a behavior by removing an aversive stimulus. None of these apply to Ms. Washington's attempts to modify Warren's behavior.

Note: Both Questions Refer to the Same Situation