Let’s walk through an example with an adorable kid named Charlie. Charlie absolutely loves drawing. But something changes when Charlie finishes his chores and earns the reward for his favorite activity.
- Charlie works hard all day cleaning his toys.
- After finishing, Charlie’s mom rewards him with his favorite activity – an hour of drawing.
- Charlie happily draws, filling up page after page with colorful scribbles.
- After an hour, the drawing doesn’t seem as appealing. Charlie has had his fill of this activity.
Here, the abolishing operation is Charlie getting his reward. It reduced the appeal of drawing because Charlie got to do it for an hour. It’s like filling up on your favorite food – after a while, you don’t want anymore. This method could be a tool for parents to manage their kids’ desires and behavior.