B.F.Skinner appears to have discovered the partial reinforcement effect when he was running a simple conditioning experiment,ran low on food pellets,and began reinforcing only a percentage of responses he otherwise would have reinforced 100% of the time.This is an example of:
A)capitalizing on a paradoxical incident
B)serendipity
C)reasoning by analogy
D)the hypothetico-deductive method

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

B.F. Skinner's discovery of the partial reinforcement effect was accidental, or a result of serendipity, because he ran low on food pellets and had to reinforce only a percentage of responses instead of the usual 100%. He did not intentionally capitalize on a paradoxical incident or use reasoning by analogy or the hypothetico-deductive method.

BFSkinner Appears to Have Discovered the Partial Reinforcement Effect When