Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) — Question 3

A child is exhibiting tantrum behaviors. You believe the tantrum is occurring for your attention. You therefore ignore the tantrum until it ceases while continuing daily activities. You note that the tantrums decrease over time. This is an example of:

Answer options

• A. Positive punishment
• B. Establishing operations
• C. Time-out
• D. Extinction

Correct answer: A

Explanation

The correct answer is D. Extinction, as ignoring the tantrum reduces the behavior over time by removing the reinforcement (attention). Positive punishment would involve adding an aversive consequence to decrease the behavior, which is not what is happening here.