AP PSYCHOLOGY

BIOLOGICAL BASES OF BEHAVIOR

BIOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Which form of learning would most likely be studied in an operant chamber (Skinner box)?
A
classical conditioning
B
vicarious conditioning
C
operant conditioning
D
conditioned emotional responses
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a ‘ Skinner Box ‘ which was similar to Thorndike’s puzzle box. A Skinner box, also known as an operant conditioning chamber, is a device used to objectively record an animal’s behavior in a compressed time frame.

Detailed explanation-2: -Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning, is a method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behavior. Through operant conditioning, behavior that is rewarded is likely to be repeated, and behavior that is punished will rarely occur.

Detailed explanation-3: -An operant conditioning chamber, colloquially known as a Skinner box, is a laboratory tool that was developed in the 1930s by B.F. Skinner. It is used to study free-operant behavior in animals and can be used to model both operant and classical conditioning.

Detailed explanation-4: -A Skinner box is most likely to be used in research on operant conditioning. Skinner developed the box in his work on operant conditioning.

Detailed explanation-5: -B.F. Skinner (1904–90) was a leading American psychologist, Harvard professor and proponent of the behaviourist theory of learning in which learning is a process of ‘conditioning’ in an environment of stimulus, reward and punishment.

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