A pigeon learns to peck at a round disk to receive reinforcement, but not at a square disk. This means that, for the pigeon, the shape of the disk is a
A)reinforcer or nonreinforcer.
B)punisher or nonpunisher.
C)generalization stimulus.
D)discriminative stimulus.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The shape of the disk acts as a discriminative stimulus because it signals to the pigeon whether pecking will lead to reinforcement. The pigeon has learned to distinguish between the shapes, responding to the round disk to receive a reward, indicating that the shape cues the pigeon on when the behavior (pecking) will be reinforced.

A Pigeon Learns to Peck at a Round Disk to Receive