Ten-year-old Lan watched as her older sister asked their father for a larger allowance. Their father agreed to increase the allowance. The next day, Lan used the same words to try to get her father to begin giving her an allowance. Lan was motivated to copy her sister because of:
A. fixed interval reinforcement
B. vicarious reinforcement
C. primary reinforcement
D. a cognitive map
Answer (2)
Lan was motivated to copy her sister's request for an allowance due to vicarious reinforcement. She observed the success of her sister's behavior, which encouraged her to imitate it. Thus, the correct answer is B. vicarious reinforcement.
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In this scenario, Lan is copying her older sister’s behavior after seeing that it resulted in a positive outcome. The concept that best explains Lan’s motivation to mimic her sister's actions is b) vicarious reinforcement .
Vicarious reinforcement occurs when an individual observes someone else being rewarded for a specific behavior, which increases the likelihood that the observer will imitate that behavior. In this case, Lan watched her older sister successfully receive a larger allowance by using certain words, which encouraged her to try the same approach in hopes of receiving similar rewards.
Let's break it down further:
Observation : Lan observes her sister asking their father for a larger allowance.
Outcome : The father agrees to increase the sister's allowance.
Motivation to Imitate : Seeing her sister's success, Lan is motivated to use the same words to try and receive an allowance herself.
This situation illustrates how people, especially children, can learn behaviors through observation and the consequences that follow those behaviors. By witnessing her sister's success, Lan was vicariously reinforced to adopt the same tactics.
