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I interpreted deep breathing techniques as the behavior (reinforced) and anxiety as the stimulus / feeling (removed = negative). Is this incorrect?
another operant conditioning question
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I interpreted deep breathing techniques as the behavior (reinforced) and anxiety as the stimulus / feeling (removed = negative). Is this incorrect?
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You seem to be thinking about it in reverse! But these questions are often tricky and largely reliant on the wording. If I understand your thought process, you thought it was negative reinforcement because anxiety is being removed ("negative"), which serves to increase the frequency of the deep breathing exercises (reinforcement).
The issue is that the question stem used the phrase, "...to decrease their anxiety." In other words, the intention of this procedure was to decrease the frequency of anxiety / anxious behaviors. The intention was not to increase the frequency of deep breathing exercises. This leads us to conclude that this must be a punishment procedure ("lower the frequency of anxiety"), rather than a reinforcement one ("reward / increase the frequency of breathing exercises"), though we may choose to perform the exercises more over time.
But I can see how this one could be ambiguous, and I'd be curious to hear others' input. If the question had been phrased differently (such as, the person happens to start performing breathing exercises, notices his anxiety decrease, and begins to perform the exercises more and more often as a result), I could see your choice being correct.
The issue is that the question stem used the phrase, "...to decrease their anxiety." In other words, the intention of this procedure was to decrease the frequency of anxiety / anxious behaviors. The intention was not to increase the frequency of deep breathing exercises. This leads us to conclude that this must be a punishment procedure ("lower the frequency of anxiety"), rather than a reinforcement one ("reward / increase the frequency of breathing exercises"), though we may choose to perform the exercises more over time.
But I can see how this one could be ambiguous, and I'd be curious to hear others' input. If the question had been phrased differently (such as, the person happens to start performing breathing exercises, notices his anxiety decrease, and begins to perform the exercises more and more often as a result), I could see your choice being correct.
