True or False: A decrease in the frequency of the behavior must be observed before a consequence-based intervention qualifies as a punishment procedure.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not necessarily
• D. It depends

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is how punishment is defined in behavior analysis: a consequence-based intervention qualifies as punishment only if it decreases the future likelihood of the target behavior. In other words, for a consequence to function as punishment, the behavior must occur less often after the consequence compared to before. If you don’t observe a decrease in frequency, it isn’t punishment—it may be neutral, or it could be serving another function like reinforcement or extinction. So the statement is true because the defining feature of punishment is the observed reduction in the behavior following the consequence. The other options would imply labeling punishment without evidence of a decrease, which isn’t consistent with the definition.