Rats in a box were reinforced for rearing behavior.One group received a food pellet 60 seconds following each rear.For another group, each rear was followed immediately by a tone, and then 60 seconds after the rearing, a food pellet was delivered.What do you think happened?
A)The tone group's learning was disrupted in comparison to the nontone group's learning.
B)The tone group's learning was facilitated in comparison to the nontone group's learning.
C)Both groups showed rapid and relatively equal acquisition of rearing behaviors.
D)Neither group learned rearing behavior, because of the time delay.

Question

Rats in a box were reinforced for rearing behavior.One group received a food pellet 60 seconds following each rear.For another group, each rear was followed immediately by a tone, and then 60 seconds after the rearing, a food pellet was delivered.What do you think happened?
A)The tone group's learning was disrupted in comparison to the non­tone group's learning.
B)The tone group's learning was facilitated in comparison to the non­tone group's learning.
C)Both groups showed rapid and relatively equal acquisition of rearing behaviors.
D)Neither group learned rearing behavior, because of the time delay.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The tone group's learning was facilitated in comparison to the non-tone group's learning. This is because the tone acted as a conditioned stimulus and became associated with the delivery of the food pellet, leading to faster learning of the behavior. The immediate pairing of the tone with the rearing behavior also reinforced the behavior more strongly.

Rats in a Box Were Reinforced for Rearing Behavior