Question

The 5-year-old child of two very busy parents has been throwing tantrums. whenever the child gets angry or upset, one or both of his parents immediately come to his side and fuss over and cajole him. nevertheless, his tantrums do not diminish. in fact, they seem to occur more often. we may assume that for this child his parents' fussing over him serves as a(n) ________.

Answer 1

This is a positive reinforcer. When the parents give the child what he is wanting only after throwing the tantrum, the child associates the tantrums with the rewards. This conditioning and positive reinforcement only serves to make the tantrums more prevalent.