​People in pain frequently receive attention and sympathy, which may provide ____________ for these pain behaviors.

A) ​reinforcement
B) ​negative scheduling
C) ​punishment
D) ​generalization

Reinforcement refers to the process of increasing the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated by providing a consequence that increases the behavior. In this case, attention and sympathy are consequences that may increase the likelihood of pain behaviors being repeated, making reinforcement the best choice. Negative scheduling refers to removing a negative consequence to increase behavior, punishment refers to adding a negative consequence to decrease behavior, and generalization refers to the tendency for behavior to occur in different situations. None of these options accurately describe the situation described in the question.