Sean is a high school student who is angry much of the time. He often vents his anger by swearing at his teacher. One day his teacher decides to extinguish Sean's swearing by ignoring him whenever he swears. Yet over the next few weeks, Sean continues to swear as frequently as he always has. Three of the following are possible explanations as to why, from a behaviorist perspective, the teacher's extinction strategy is not working. Which alternative is the least likely explanation?
a. Other students are reinforcing Sean's swearing.
b. Sean's swearing has previously been reinforced on an intermittent basis.
c. Swearing allows Sean to release pent-up anger, so he is being negatively reinforced.
d. Sean is being reinforced for swearing by means of the Premack Principle.
Question 2
In a series of experiments, Tolman investigated the role of reinforcement in learning. Which one of the following conclusions emerged from his research?
a. Reinforcement is essential for learning, but not for performance.
b. Reinforcement is distracting, so interferes with learning.
c. Responses can be learned even when they are not reinforced.
d. Reinforcement is important only if the organism is unmotivated.
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