Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Practice Examination

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What term refers to the addition or removal of a stimulus that decreases the frequency of a given behavior?

Reinforcement
Extinction
Punishment
Conditioning

The correct answer is: Punishment

The term that refers to the addition or removal of a stimulus that decreases the frequency of a given behavior is punishment. Punishment can take two forms: positive punishment, which involves presenting a stimulus after an undesired behavior (such as giving a speeding ticket), and negative punishment, which entails removing a stimulus following the undesired behavior (such as taking away a privilege). The ultimate goal of both forms of punishment is to reduce the occurrence of the behavior in the future. In contrast, other terms like reinforcement are associated with increasing the likelihood of a behavior, while extinction refers to the gradual decrease of a behavior when reinforcement is no longer provided. Conditioning generally refers to the process of learning associations between stimuli and responses and does not specifically address the modification of behavior through stimulus addition or removal. These distinctions underscore why punishment is the term that accurately captures the described phenomenon.