Questions: A child breaks a playmate's toy in a fit of anger. His parents respond by reducing the child's TV time. This is an example of positive reinforcement. positive punishment. negative reinforcement. negative punishment.

The answer is negative punishment.

Positive reinforcement involves adding a desirable stimulus to increase a behavior. For example, giving a child a treat for doing their homework encourages them to repeat the behavior. In this scenario, the parents are not adding anything to increase a behavior.

Positive punishment involves adding an unpleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior. An example would be scolding a child for misbehaving. In this case, the parents are not adding anything unpleasant; instead, they are removing something.

Negative reinforcement involves removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase a behavior. For example, stopping a loud noise when a child completes a task encourages them to complete the task again. Here, the parents are not removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase a behavior.

Negative punishment involves removing a desirable stimulus to decrease a behavior. In this scenario, the parents are reducing the child's TV time, which is a desirable activity, to decrease the behavior of breaking toys. This matches the definition of negative punishment.