Reinforcement and Punishment Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A game rewards a player after an unpredictable number of successful actions. Which reinforcement schedule is being used?
Variable ratio
Variable interval
Fixed ratio
Fixed interval
2. A baker makes a fresh sample available every 20 minutes. Customers learn the timing and check more often as the next 20-minute point approaches. Which schedule best fits?
Variable interval
Fixed interval
Fixed ratio
Variable ratio
3. In operant conditioning, what makes a consequence a reinforcer?
It is delivered immediately after any behavior.
It feels pleasant to the person receiving it.
It increases the future likelihood of the behavior it follows.
It removes an unwanted behavior from a situation.
4. After a teenager misses curfew, phone privileges are temporarily removed. Late arrivals subsequently decrease. Which consequence is illustrated?
Positive punishment
Extinction
Negative reinforcement
Negative punishment
5. A vending-machine button previously produced snacks, but it stops working. After repeated unrewarded presses, the customer presses it less often. Which process best explains the decline?
Extinction
Negative punishment
Stimulus generalization
Shaping
6. Students earn tokens for completing assignments and can exchange them for preferred activities. In this system, the tokens primarily function as:
Primary reinforcers
Discriminative stimuli only
Conditioned reinforcers
Unconditioned punishers
7. A consequence briefly stops a child's shouting, but the child has not learned another way to request attention. Which principle best explains why shouting may return?
Punishment automatically becomes reinforcement over time.
Any reduced behavior must produce an extinction burst.
Punishment may suppress a behavior without teaching a replacement behavior.
A punished behavior always generalizes unchanged to every setting.
8. Which definition best describes punishment in operant conditioning?
A consequence intended by someone to express disapproval
Any consequence that the recipient dislikes
The removal of an unpleasant stimulus after a behavior
A consequence that decreases the future likelihood of the behavior it follows
9. A student who repeatedly calls out receives an extra written assignment, and calling out becomes less frequent. What is this?
Negative punishment
Positive punishment
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
10. A child finishes cleaning their room and receives an extra bedtime story. Room-cleaning becomes more frequent. Which process occurred?
Positive reinforcement
Positive punishment
Negative reinforcement
Extinction
11. In a classroom point system, one point is removed after each rule violation, and violations become less frequent. What specific procedure is this?
Time-out from reinforcement
Overcorrection
Response cost
Differential reinforcement
12. A coach first praises an athlete for approximating a new movement, then gradually reserves praise for attempts that more closely match the target form. What technique is the coach using?
Shaping
Extinction
Response cost
Stimulus generalization
13. Which statement correctly distinguishes negative reinforcement from punishment?
Negative reinforcement weakens behavior, while punishment strengthens it.
Negative reinforcement is defined by unpleasant intentions, while punishment is defined by pleasant intentions.
Negative reinforcement and punishment both require removing a valued stimulus.
Negative reinforcement strengthens behavior by removing or preventing an aversive stimulus.
14. In a laboratory, a rat learns that lever presses produce food only while a green light is on. What role does the green light serve?
An unconditioned reinforcer
A discriminative stimulus
An extinction burst
A punishment cue
15. A driver fastens their seat belt before starting the car so the warning buzzer will not sound. Buckling up this early becomes habitual. This is best described as:
Escape learning, because an active warning was stopped
Avoidance behavior maintained by negative reinforcement
Positive reinforcement, because a quiet car was added
Extinction, because the buzzer was not experienced
16. Taking a pain reliever removes a headache, making a person more likely to take that medication during future headaches. How is taking the medication being strengthened?
Through positive reinforcement because medication was added
Through negative punishment because pain was reduced
Through positive punishment because the headache followed earlier behavior
Through negative reinforcement because an aversive condition was removed