Is praise really a conditioned reinforcer?

[tsukikage]

Because "it is impossible to understand Western culture without knowing the Bible".
I'd buy it!

A word of praise is to a soothing backrub as________ is to________.
1. delayed reinforcer; immediate reinforcer
2. operant conditioning; classical conditioning
3. partial reinforcement; continuous reinforcement
4. observational learning; latent learning
5. conditioned reinforcer; primary reinforcer
Umm... None? But I picked 5 (because backrubs always feel good and you have to be taught to like praise?), and got it right, so whatever.

But apparently praise is considered a conditioned reinforcer, as 1 was the correct answer to this question:
Which of the following is the best example of a conditioned reinforcer?
1. applause for an excellent piano recital
2. a spanking for eating cookies before dinner
3. a cold root beer for mowing the lawn on a hot day
4. termination of shock after removing one's finger from a live electric wire

I don't know. My perceptions of our desire for praise may be off.

Time for a quick nap so I don't get that weird feeling that today and yesterday were actually the same day.