Examination for Professional Practice of Psychology (EPPP) Practice Test

In a time-out scenario, what type of conditioning is the mother displaying by shortening the time-out period when her son whines?

1. Escape conditioning

2. Avoidance conditioning

3. Positive reinforcement

4. Positive punishment

The correct answer is: Escape conditioning

In this scenario, the mother is demonstrating escape conditioning by shortening the time-out period in response to her son's whining. Escape conditioning involves a behavior leading to the termination of an aversive stimulus. In this case, the time-out is an aversive situation for the child, and the mother's decision to reduce the duration of the time-out is a response to the whining, which effectively allows the child to escape from that unpleasant situation sooner. The child's whining serves as a cue that influences the mother's behavior, resulting in a decrease in the time he must remain in time-out. This reinforces the child's whining behavior because it provides immediate relief from the time-out, therefore increasing the likelihood that he will whine again in the future when faced with a similar situation. While the other options involve different aspects of learning theory, they do not apply here as effectively as escape conditioning. Positive reinforcement involves increasing a behavior by providing a rewarding stimulus, which does not pertain to the scenario where the mother is responding to the aversive aspect of the time-out. Avoidance conditioning refers to situations where a person takes action to prevent an aversive event before it occurs, not simply reacting to it after it has begun. Positive punishment involves presenting an aversive stimulus