Operant Conditioning: Rewards and Penalties

What are consequences that increase the likelihood of future behavior called? What about consequences that decrease the likelihood of a behavior?

a) Incentive; Punishments
b) Reinforcement; Consequences
c) Rewards; Penalties
d) Punishments; Incentive

Final answer:

The correct answer is 'Rewards; Penalties.' This pertains to the theory of operant conditioning, which posits that behaviors followed by positive consequences (rewards) tend to reoccur and behaviors followed by negative outcomes (penalties) are less likely to happen again.

Explanation:

The correct answer to your question is c) Rewards; Penalties. The theory of operant conditioning, developed by B.F. Skinner, explains this. In operant conditioning, behaviors followed by desirable outcomes or rewards, termed as reinforcements, are likely to recur in the future. These are consequences that increase the likelihood of future behavior. On the contrary, behaviors followed by undesirable outcomes or penalties, termed as punishments, are less likely to occur again.

For instance, receiving a treat (positive), after sitting on command, as shown by a dog in the study, is a reward that increases the likelihood of the dog sitting on command in the future. While if you run a red light and get a traffic ticket (negative), it's a penalty that decreases the likelihood of you running a red light in the future.