Whenever Tamika tries to talk on the telephone, her 10-year-old son Jamal repeatedly interrupts her. If Tamika wanted to use operant conditioning principles to successfully alleviate the behavior, the most efficient response would be to:

A. ignore Jamal's attempts to talk to her while she is on the phone.

B. send Jamal to his room every time he interrupts Tamika while she is on the phone.

C. reward Jamal for not interrupting her during a phone call.

D. tell her friend that she will call her back and immediately attend to whatever it was that Jamal wanted.

C

Explanation:

reward Jamal for not interrupting her during a phone call

If Jamal is rewarded for not interrupting a phone call, the likelihood of the strength of this behavior will increase and also the likelihood of the behavior comtinuing so that even in the future he will not interupt a phone call. This is known as operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is a learning method that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. it can be used to change old behaviors and teach new ones.

Answer: C. Reward Jamal for not interrupting her during a phone call

Explanation: Operant conditioning is a learning process which is used to adjust or shape the nature or strength of an child's attitude or behavior either through reinforcement or punishment. Operant conditioning is used to explain changes which occur in the strength or ability to repeat a certain behavior due to the consequences of such behavior or action. Reinforcement increases the strength of a behavior and increases the likelihood of future occurrences while punishment decreases the strength of an action and decreases the likelihood of future occurrences.

In the scenario above, If Jamal is rewarded for not interrupting a phone call, the behavior will be strengthened and increases the likelihood of future occurrence, that is, not interrupting phone calls in the future.