Which type of behavior modification involves learning a new response to stop an ongoing unpleasant stimulus?

The concept of learning a new response to stop an ongoing unpleasant stimulus is best encompassed by escape conditioning. This type of behavior modification involves an individual learning to perform a behavior that removes or reduces an unpleasant stimulus that is currently affecting them. For example, consider a situation where a person is exposed to a loud noise (the unpleasant stimulus). If they learn to cover their ears or leave the area to stop the noise, they are engaging in escape conditioning by learning a specific response to eliminate an aversive condition.

In contrast, positive punishment introduces an unpleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior, but it does not involve learning to escape from an ongoing stimulus. Negative punishment involves removing a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior, which also does not fit the scenario of stopping an ongoing unpleasant stimulus. Avoidance conditioning, while related, refers to the learning of a behavior to prevent the unpleasant stimulus from occurring in the first place, rather than responding to stop one that is already present. Thus, the identification of escape conditioning correctly captures the essence of learning a response to halt an aversive stimulus.