Fred is afraid of spiders. He won't even watch a nature show on TV about them. When he sees a picture of a spider, he has a panic attack, but when he avoids looking at the image, his panic goes away. Fred's avoidance of spiders is being ________.

A) extinguished, because he feels anxious after doing so
B) recovered spontaneously, because he will never get better
C) positively reinforced, because he is rewarded by his anxiety going down
D) negatively reinforced, because he is rewarded by his anxiety going down

Question

Guadalupe Quezadas · Accepted Answer

Final Answer : D, Explanation :  Fred's avoidance of spiders is being negatively reinforced, because he is rewarded by his anxiety going down when he avoids looking at a picture of a spider. Negative reinforcement is the removal or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus, such as anxiety in this case, by engaging in a particular behavior, such as avoiding looking at a spider.

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