Sam skips school so that he can play video games at the arcade. Sam's parents find him at the arcade and make him mow the lawn w
hen they get home. As a result of having to mow the lawn, Sam doesn't skip school to go to the arcade anymore. Having to do something he dislikes as punishment for the problem behavior is (in a sense) a form of: a. extinction b. negative punishment c. negative reinforcement d. the Premack Principle
This is an example of the Premack principle. The Premack principle is a theory of reinforcement which is employed in order to help a person engage in a more desired behaviour. This theory comes from psychologist David Premack. The Premack principle works by using two behaviours. The idea is that a high probability behaviour will reinforce a less probably behaviour. In this example, the highly probable behaviour of having to mow the lawn discourages Sam from going to the arcade.
