Dr.Peck wishes to operantly condition a pigeon to pick a black card out of a set of white cards.To ensure that Peck's pigeon picks the proper card,the reinforcer must:
A) precede the desired behavior
B) occur at the same time as the desired behavior
C) become a predictor for the desired behavior
D) follow the desired behavior

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In operant conditioning, the reinforcer must follow the desired behavior to increase the likelihood of that behavior occurring in the future. Since Dr. Peck wants to condition the pigeon to pick a black card, the reinforcer (e.g. food or praise) should be given only after the pigeon has picked the black card. Therefore, the correct option is D, "follow the desired behavior."

DrPeck Wishes to Operantly Condition a Pigeon to Pick a Black