One of Tolman's classic research studies involved three groups of rats running mazes for several days. The rats in Group 1 received a food reward at the end of the maze every time they ran the maze. The rats in Group 2 never received a food reward in the maze. In contrast, the rats in Group 3 did not receive a food reward at the end of the maze until the eleventh day of the study. What behavior did the rats in Group 2 and Group 3 display on day 12?
A)The number of errors made by the rats in Group 2 remained about the same but the number of errors made by the rats in Group 3 decreased sharply, showing that they had learned the layout of the maze without being reinforced.
B)The number of errors made by the rats in Group 2 and Group 3 remained about the same, showing that neither group had learned the layout of the maze.
C)The number of errors made by the rats in both groups sharply decreased, showing the importance of observational learning.
D)The number of errors made by the rats in Group 2 remained about the same but the number of errors made by the rats in Group 3 increased, showing that rewards can interfere with both motivation and performance.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The rats in Group 2 did not receive any reinforcement and therefore did not learn the layout of the maze. The rats in Group 3 did not receive reinforcement until the eleventh day, but on the twelfth day, they showed a sharp decrease in errors, indicating that they had learned the layout of the maze without reinforcement. This suggests that learning can occur without immediate reinforcement, and that cognitive processes such as mental mapping play a role in learning.

One of Tolman's Classic Research Studies Involved Three Groups of Rats