The Effect of Latent Learning on Rats in a Maze Experiment
Understanding Latent Learning in Rats
If rats are allowed to freely explore a maze without being given a food reward and later are put in the maze again with a food reward in the goal box, the rats:
Group of answer choices:
- learn the maze as quickly as rats that have never been exposed to the maze.
- learn the maze more quickly than rats that have never been exposed to the maze.
- learn the maze more slowly than rats that have never been exposed to the maze.
- are unable to learn the maze regardless of being rewarded.
Answer:
The correct answer is B. learn the maze more quickly than rats that have never been exposed to the maze.
Explanation:
Operant conditioning studies have shown that animals' learn something faster when their behavior is being reinforced. There are four types of reinforcement, and rewarding in one of them. Rewarding means adding something that is considered good or likable to motivate a desired behavior. In the case of the rats, the reward is food. When they understand food will be given after a certain behavior is carried out, the rats begin to learn that behavior faster.
Final answer:
Rats that had freely explored a maze (even without a food reward) learned the maze more quickly than rats that had never been exposed to the maze before. This is due to latent learning, where the rats created a cognitive map of the maze.
Additional Information:
In the context of animal behavior and learning, this question involves rats in a maze experiment. Based on experimental studies conducted by researchers like H.C. Blodgett and E.C. Tolman, if rats are allowed to freely explore a maze without a food reward, they are learning the layout, but this learning isn't immediately apparent. It's a form of latent learning, where they're creating a cognitive map of the maze. Once they are put back into the maze with a food reward in the goal box, they are able to find their way to the food much faster, demonstrating that they learned the maze more quickly than rats who had never been exposed to it before.
If rats are allowed to freely explore a maze without being given a food reward and later are put in the maze again with a food reward in the goal box, what happens to the rats in the maze compared to rats who have never been exposed to the maze?
Rats that had freely explored the maze without a food reward learn the maze more quickly than rats that have never been exposed to the maze. This phenomenon is known as latent learning, where the rats create a cognitive map of the maze during their initial exploration.