A 4-year-old boy interrupts his mother every time she talks on the phone. The family pediatrician recommends that whenever the child interrupts her, the mother should pay no attention to him. The pediatrician has recommended
## **Core Concept**
The pediatrician's recommendation addresses a common behavioral issue in children, specifically **interrupting others**. This behavior can be managed using principles of **operant conditioning**, a type of learning process where the strength of a behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment.
## **Why the Correct Answer is Right**
The pediatrician recommended that the mother should **ignore the child** whenever he interrupts her. In operant conditioning, **ignoring a behavior** means that there is no **reinforcement** (attention, in this case) provided for that behavior. Since the child interrupts to get a reaction or attention from his mother, ignoring the interruption removes the reward. Over time, the child is expected to interrupt less frequently because the behavior no longer yields the desired outcome (attention). This approach is a form of **extinction** in operant conditioning, where a behavior decreases because its consequences (in this case, attention) are removed.
## **Why Each Wrong Option is Incorrect**
- **Option A:** This option is blank and cannot be evaluated.
- **Option B:** This option is also blank and cannot be evaluated.
- **Option C:** Similarly, this option is blank and does not provide any information to assess its correctness.
- **Option D:** This option is blank as well.
## **Clinical Pearl / High-Yield Fact**
A key point to remember is that **consistency** is crucial when implementing behavioral modification techniques like ignoring. For the strategy to be effective, all caregivers must ignore the behavior consistently. Additionally, it's essential to **reinforce alternative behaviors**, such as waiting to be acknowledged or using polite phrases to get attention. This comprehensive approach helps in effectively reducing undesired behaviors.
## **Correct Answer:** D. extinction.