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How do I distinguish between two choices that I would feel like both explain the behavior in question? For example, from a KA passage:
Before receiving treatment, Katie avoided certain activities that made her anxious so that she could reduce the number of panic attacks she experienced. What operant conditioning term describes this behavior?
Negative punishment
Negative reinforcement
Positive punishment
Positive reinforcement
The answer was A. Fair enough because she is reducing a behavior (the panic attacks). However, based on the question stem, I could also argue that she is removing something negative - the "certain activities that made her anxious"; hence this could be negative reinforcement. In general for conditioning questions, maybe it's better to look at whether a behavior in question is being increased or decreased and THEN see what's being done to make that change??
Before receiving treatment, Katie avoided certain activities that made her anxious so that she could reduce the number of panic attacks she experienced. What operant conditioning term describes this behavior?
Negative punishment
Negative reinforcement
Positive punishment
Positive reinforcement
The answer was A. Fair enough because she is reducing a behavior (the panic attacks). However, based on the question stem, I could also argue that she is removing something negative - the "certain activities that made her anxious"; hence this could be negative reinforcement. In general for conditioning questions, maybe it's better to look at whether a behavior in question is being increased or decreased and THEN see what's being done to make that change??