When Keller and Marian Breland, two psychologists who became animal trainers, decided that it would be cute to have a pig drop a big wooden coin into a box, they found that ________.
A) food was not an effective reinforcer for the pig and so learning didn't occur
B) when given edible roots as reinforcers, the pig learned the task in less than ten trials
C) the pig displayed instinctive drift by dropping the coin and pushing it around with its nose
D) the pig showed intrinsic interest in the task and so reinforcement was unnecessary

Question

When Keller and Marian Breland, two psychologists who became animal trainers, decided that it would be cute to have a pig drop a big wooden coin into a box, they found that ________.
A) food was not an effective reinforcer for the pig and so learning didn't occur
B) when given edible roots as reinforcers, the pig learned the task in less than ten trials
C) the pig displayed instinctive drift by dropping the coin and pushing it around with its nose 
D) the pig showed intrinsic interest in the task and so reinforcement was unnecessary

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The pig displayed instinctive drift, which is a tendency for an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors that can interfere with a conditioned response. In this case, the pig reverted to its natural behavior of pushing objects with its nose.

When Keller and Marian Breland, Two Psychologists Who Became Animal