Research has determined that chimpanzees can learn to work for and value tokens that can be used in a vending machine to obtain food. According to the principles of operant conditioning, the token would best be considered an example of a
A)secondary reinforcer
B)conditioned response
C)primary reinforcer
D)discriminative stimulus

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A secondary reinforcer, also known as a conditioned reinforcer, is something that a subject learns to value as it can be used to obtain a primary reinforcer (in this case, food). The tokens themselves do not satisfy a basic biological need but have been learned to be valuable through their association with obtaining food.

Research Has Determined That Chimpanzees Can Learn to Work for and Value