The best example of negative reinforcement is d) elimination of pain after taking an aspirin.
Negative reinforcement involves the removal of an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior. In this case, taking an aspirin removes the pain, which reinforces the behavior of taking the aspirin in the future when experiencing pain.
Let’s break down the other options:
- a) Being put in jail for driving while drunk: This is an example of punishment, not negative reinforcement. Punishment aims to decrease a behavior by introducing an unpleasant consequence.
- b) Not being allowed to go to the movies on Saturday night: This is also an example of punishment, as it involves removing a pleasant activity to decrease a behavior.
- c) A spanking for bad behavior: This is another example of punishment, where an unpleasant stimulus is introduced to decrease a behavior.
Negative reinforcement is about removing something unpleasant to encourage a behavior, which is clearly demonstrated in option d.