2. Texting while driving is dangerous. In fact, some studies have found that texting drivers were more likely to miss the brake lights of the car in front of them, swerve out of their lane, and take their eyes off the road than were drivers talking on phones or drivers who were drunk

(Crisler et al., 2008; Libby & Chaparro, 2009; Hosking et al., 2009;

Drews et al., 2009). Any one of these mistakes could result in injury or death to the driver or someone else.

Based on the risk of texting while driving and what you know about operant conditioning, how would you change this behavior? What punishment would you enforce? What form would it take—a fine, jail time, a suspended driver’s license, or something else? How severe should the punishments be? Would reinforcement (for not texting) be part of your contingency system?