Which of the following best illustrates positive punishment in operant conditioning?

• A. A child touches a hot stove and feels pain, decreasing the likelihood of touching the stove again.
• B. A student receives extra credit for turning in homework early, increasing early submissions.
• C. A teenager loses video game privileges for staying out past curfew, decreasing future curfew violations.
• D. A dog stops barking when its owner removes attention, decreasing barking behavior.

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the concept of positive punishment in operant conditioning. Positive punishment involves presenting an aversive stimulus after a behavior, which decreases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again.
2. Step 2: Identify the key elements in each option: the behavior, the consequence, and whether the consequence is adding (positive) or removing (negative) a stimulus, and whether it increases or decreases the behavior.
3. Step 3: Analyze the first option: A child touches a hot stove (behavior) and feels pain (aversive stimulus added), which decreases the likelihood of touching the stove again. This fits positive punishment because an unpleasant stimulus (pain) is added to reduce the behavior.
4. Step 4: Review the other options to confirm they do not fit positive punishment: extra credit is a positive reinforcement (adding pleasant stimulus to increase behavior), losing privileges is negative punishment (removing pleasant stimulus to decrease behavior), and removing attention is negative punishment (removing stimulus to decrease behavior).
5. Step 5: Conclude that the first option best illustrates positive punishment because it involves adding an unpleasant stimulus to reduce a behavior.