Wallice is out with friends who ask him to stay out late. He declines because he remembers that when his older sister stayed out past curfew, his parents grounded her for an entire month. Wallice’s understanding demonstrates learning via

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The question asks about the type of learning demonstrated when Wallice avoids staying out late because he observed his sister being grounded in the past.
Option a: classical conditioning. This would involve learning to associate a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response, such as learning to fear a sound because it predicts something unpleasant. The scenario does not describe forming an association between two stimuli or a conditioned response; it centers on observing consequences for someone else.
Option b: vicarious reinforcement. This refers to learning by observing another person receiving a reward for a behavior, which increases the likelihood of that behavior being repeated. In the given situation, Wallice is mindful of punishment (a negative consequence) rather than a reward being observed, so this option does not fit.
Option c: latent learning. Latent learning is knowledge that becomes apparent only when there is an incentive to demonstrate it, often involving cognitive maps or unconscious acquisition without immediate reinforcement. The scenario emphasizes a direct behavioral safety decision based on observed punishment, not hidden knowledge revealed later without reinforcement.
Option d: vicarious punishment. This is learning that occurs by observing someone else being punished for a behavior, which can lead the observer to refrain from that behavior themselves to avoid similar consequences. The narrative explicitly aligns with Wallice using his sister’s punishment as a cue to avoid staying out late, matching vicarious punishment perfectly.
Thus, each option was evaluated in terms of how it explains the learning process here. The comparison shows that the described situation best aligns with observing another’s punishment influencing one’s own behavior, rather than conditioning, reward-based observation, or latent knowledge. The emphasis is on social learning through observing negative consequences and adjusting behavior accordingly.

PSY 200 (003) Fall 2025 Introduction to Psychology (TR, 1:30pm)

Wallice is out with friends who ask him to stay out late. He declines because he remembers that when his older sister stayed out past curfew, his parents grounded her for an entire month. Wallice’s understanding demonstrates learning via

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