True or False: Negative punishment has occurred when the removal of an event decreases the future occurrence of a behavior.

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

Answer: (A)

Negative punishment means taking away something the organism values after a behavior, with the aim of making that behavior occur less often in the future. The statement fits this definition because it describes removing an event or privilege and observing a decrease in the future occurrence of the behavior. For example, removing access to video game time after a rule violation tends to reduce the likelihood of repeating that violation. This is different from negative reinforcement, where removing an unpleasant stimulus increases a behavior, and from positive punishment, where an unpleasant consequence is added to decrease a behavior. So the statement is true.