Author Question: When placed in a Skinner box, a rat is active, sniffing, poking, and exploring its environment, ... (Read 137 times)

saraeharris · **on:** Jun 21, 2018

When placed in a Skinner box, a rat is active, sniffing, poking, and exploring its environment, displaying behaviors that are _____.

a. emitted
c. respondent
b. elicited
d. extinguished

Question 2

Which of the following is true of operant behavior according to Skinner?

a. It involves emitted, not elicited, responses.
b. It is modified by the reinforcement that follows the behavior.
c. It produces a change in the organism's environment.
d. All of these are correct.

Meganchabluk · **Reply #1 on:** Jun 21, 2018

Answer to Question 1

ANS: A
FEEDBACK: When a food-deprived rat is placed in a Skinner box, its behavior at first is spontaneous and random. The rat is active, sniffing, poking, and exploring its environment. These behaviors are emitted, not elicited; in other words, the rat is not responding to any specific stimulus in its environment.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: D
FEEDBACK: Much human behavior appears to be spontaneous and cannot be traced directly to a specific stimulus. Such behavior is emitted rather than elicited by a stimulus. The nature and frequency of operant behavior will be determined or modified by the reinforcement that follows the behavior. Operant behavior operates on the environment and, as a result, changes it.