Which term describes removing a reinforcer from the learner's noncontingent supply?

• A. Existing cache response cost
• B. Time-in
• C. Bonus response cost
• D. Contingent observation

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is how a punishment procedure can remove reinforcement that the learner already has stored, rather than taking away something delivered in response to the behavior. When the learner has a noncontingent supply of reinforcers (a cache or backup reinforcers that are available regardless of what the learner does), taking away part of that stock after a problem behavior reduces the overall amount of reinforcement the learner can access. This specific way of delivering a response cost is called a bonus response cost: it’s an extra penalty drawn from the learner’s existing reinforcement cache to decrease the likelihood of the undesired behavior.

Imagine a token economy where the learner already has tokens stored for later backup rewards. If a problem behavior occurs and a token is removed from that stored pile, you’re applying a bonus response cost, because the loss comes from the noncontingent reinforcement reserve rather than from a token earned in the immediate moment. This differs from other procedures that deal with reinforcement in different ways (for example, removing access to reinforcement during a time-out or observation-only scenarios), which wouldn’t describe taking away reinforcement from the noncontingent supply.