In differential reinforcement, what process is paired with reinforcement?

In differential reinforcement, the process that is paired with reinforcement is extinction. This strategy involves reinforcing a desired behavior while simultaneously withholding reinforcement for an undesired behavior. By doing so, the undesired behavior is less likely to occur in the future due to the lack of reinforcement, which can be viewed as a form of extinction.

The key concept here is that reinforcement and extinction work together effectively to shape behavior. By reinforcing the desired behavior, individuals are encouraged to repeat that action, while the extinction component reduces the frequency of the undesired behavior by no longer providing consequences that maintain it.

Attention, blocking, and preference, while they may relate to various behavioral strategies, do not serve the same dual function of reinforcing one behavior while simultaneously reducing the occurrence of another through non-reinforcement. Therefore, extinction is the correct pairing in the context of differential reinforcement.