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Chapter 5: Problem 5

As you walk out of the shoe store at the Super Mall and turn toward another store, you spot a person whom you greatly dislike. You immediately duck back into the shoe store to avoid an unpleasant interaction with him. Because ________ has occurred, you are more likely to take evasive action when you encounter people you dislike in the future.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Due to operant conditioning, specifically negative reinforcement, you are more likely to take evasive action when encountering people you dislike in the future.

Step by step solution

01

Identify the psychological concept

The psychological concept that applies to this exercise is "operant conditioning," which is a learning process through which behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment.
02

Define operant conditioning

Operant conditioning is a learning process where an individual's behavior is shaped by the consequences of the behavior. It was first introduced by B.F. Skinner, and it focuses on two types of consequences: reinforcement (increasing the likelihood of a behavior) and punishment (decreasing the likelihood of a behavior).
03

Identify the consequence in this situation

In the scenario, the consequence is the avoidance of an unpleasant interaction with the person whom you dislike. This is known as negative reinforcement because the action (ducking back into the shoe store) removed the unpleasant stimulus (disliked person), increasing the likelihood of this evasive behavior in the future.
04

Analyze the future impact of the learned behavior

Due to the operant conditioning experienced in this situation, the person will be more likely to take evasive action when encountering people they dislike in the future. This is because their previous experience showed that taking evasive action led to a favorable outcome (avoiding an unpleasant interaction), and they will seek to replicate this outcome when faced with similar situations. To summarize, the psychological concept at play in this exercise is operant conditioning, with negative reinforcement increasing the likelihood of evasive behavior in the future when encountering disliked individuals.

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