Psychology MCAT Practice Exam 2025 – Complete All-in-One Guide to Ensure Your Success!

The correct answer is negative reinforcement, which is a concept in operant conditioning. Negative reinforcement involves the removal of an aversive or unpleasant stimulus in order to increase the likelihood that a desired behavior will occur again in the future. This process works on the premise that by taking away something undesirable, the behavior that leads to the removal of that unpleasant factor is encouraged and strengthened.

For example, if a student studies to avoid the unpleasant feeling of anxiety before an exam, the removal of that anxiety reinforces the studying behavior. Thus, the student is more likely to study again in the future to achieve the same removal of anxiety.

This concept is often confused with punishment, which has a different impact on behavior. Positive reinforcement is about adding something desirable to reinforce behavior, while negative punishment involves taking away something desirable to decrease behavior. Positive punishment adds an unpleasant consequence to reduce undesired behavior, but in the case of negative reinforcement, the focus is on the removal of an unpleasant experience to promote a desirable action.