Which timeout procedure involves withholding social reinforcers for a brief period contingent on the occurrence of the target behavior?

• A. Planned Ignoring
• B. Partition Time Out
• C. Overcorrection
• D. PlacCHECK

Answer: (A)

Planned ignoring involves withholding social reinforcers for a brief period contingent on the target behavior. When the behavior occurs, the caregiver or instructor stops giving attention—no talking, no eye contact, no smiles—for a short, preplanned interval. After the timeout, normal interaction resumes, and attention is then available for appropriate behavior. The idea is to remove the social payoff that maintains the misbehavior while continuing to reinforce desirable behavior when it occurs. Other timeout variants may involve placing the learner in a different location or using different corrective consequences, but planned ignoring is specifically about briefly withholding social attention in response to the misbehavior.