Examination for Professional Practice of Psychology (EPPP) Practice Test

What type of conditioning does the mother's reaction exemplify when she responds to her son's whining during time-out?

1. Classical conditioning

2. Operant conditioning

3. Negative reinforcement

4. Escape conditioning

The correct answer is: Escape conditioning

The mother's reaction exemplifies escape conditioning, which occurs when a behavior is strengthened because it removes or reduces an aversive stimulus. In this scenario, the son’s whining represents a behavior that seeks to escape the negative experience of time-out. When the mother responds to his whining, she is essentially reinforcing that behavior by allowing him to escape the unpleasant consequence of being in time-out. Escape conditioning focuses on the relationship between the behavior and the immediate consequence of alleviating discomfort or distress. In this case, the mother's response can make her son more likely to whine in the future when faced with similar situations, as he learns that whining successfully leads to the end of the time-out. Other conditioning types, while related, do not capture the dynamic at play here. For instance, classical conditioning involves associating two stimuli, operant conditioning refers to behaviors being influenced by their consequences but does not specifically denote escape from a consequence, and negative reinforcement is a broader concept encompassing any action that increases a behavior by removing an aversive stimulus but does not reflect the immediate escape dynamics of this scenario as clearly as escape conditioning does.