Many consider early and middle adulthood times of relatively little growth, but adults encounter a multitude of tasks and changes during these phases. For instance, the quality of

Time to demonstrate your understanding of negative reinforcement by recalling a time you’ve seen it used. Think of an instance when you used, or you observed someone using, negative reinforcement. That means something aversive was removed (e.g., chore, task, nagging) based on a behavior, which results in the behavior occurring again in the future. Identify each of the stimuli in the scenario. Here are two examples:
You put on your seatbelt when you get in the car in order to avoid hearing the dinging alarm.
aversive stimulus = dinging alarm
behavior that repeats = putting on seatbelt in car to avoid hearing the dinging
Sadly, the trap is that the behavior may be unwanted (e.g., whining, hitting, screaming, hiding) but when it is negatively reinforced (i.e., aversive removed), the unwanted behavior repeats in the future!
Parent tells child is it time to set the table and the child throws a tantrum. The parent gives up and sets the table.
aversive stimulus = being told to set the table
behavior that repeats = child throws tantrum so parent stops asking them to set the table
Your turn! Do NOT use the examples provided above. Describe a situation involving negative reinforcement, then identify the aversive stimulus and the behavior that repeats in the future.