To stop coyotes from attacking and devouring his sheep, a rancher kills one of the flock, laces its body with chemicals that produce nausea, and leaves the sheep out for the coyotes to find and eat. In this case, the rancher is applying the research of
A) John Garcia.
B) Ivan Pavlov.
C) Konrad Lorenz.
D) Robert Rescorla.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

John Garcia's research focused on taste aversion conditioning, which involves pairing the taste of a particular food with a negative response (such as nausea) to create an aversion to that food. In this scenario, the rancher is using this concept to create a negative association for the coyotes with the taste of the sheep, hopefully deterring them from attacking the rest of the flock in the future. Ivan Pavlov's research primarily focused on classical conditioning with dogs, while Konrad Lorenz studied animal behavior and imprinting. Robert Rescorla's work looked at the role of contingency and predictability in classical conditioning.

To Stop Coyotes from Attacking and Devouring His Sheep, a Rancher