Question

Dolores could see the sock on the floor behind the clothes dryer. She straightened out a wire clothes hanger, made a hook on the end, and used it to fish the sock out from behind the dryer. Using operant conditioning terminology, straightening out the wire hanger and poking it behind the dryer would be the _____, and the retrieved sock would be the _____.

Answer 1

Answer: Using operant conditioning terminology, straightening the wire hanger and poking it behind the dryer would be the operant and the retrieved sock would be the reinforcing stimulus.

Explanation:

Operant stimulus is when there is a result known as "three-term contingency." The  behavior or action can result in an award or even a punishment depending on the occasion.

Reinforcing stimulus is when a certain behavior is performed and the response is strengthened or decreased depending on the action taken. In this case, the soc was retrieved because Dolores used the wire hanger. This could of been a decreased behavior is she had not of straightened the wire hanger and the sock was not retrieved.

The four types of reinforcing stimulus and operant stimulus are; extinction, negative, positive, and punishment.