Operant shaping is often used in training various animals to perform tricks with hand signals being used to indicate which trick that the animal is to perform and food treats then being used as reinforcers. Thus, the trainer's hand signals are serving as
A)unconditioned stimuli.
B)respondent cues.
C)cognitive maps.
D)discriminative stimuli.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The trainer's hand signals serve as discriminative stimuli because they signal to the animal that a specific response (trick) will be reinforced. Discriminative stimuli indicate when a particular response will lead to a certain outcome (in this case, receiving a food treat for performing the trick).

Operant Shaping Is Often Used in Training Various Animals to Perform