Psychologist John Garcia found that rats did not learn to associate a taste with flashing lights and noise. However, rats do learn to associate a taste with getting ill. Which of the following concepts best accounts for this observation?
A) latent learning
B) biological preparedness
C) spontaneous recovery
D) the partial reinforcement effect

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This observation can be best explained by the concept of biological preparedness, which suggests that some associations are easier to learn due to an organism's evolutionary history. Rats are biologically prepared to associate a taste with illness because in the wild, eating something toxic can make them ill and potentially lead to death. Therefore, learning to avoid certain tastes is adaptive and has a survival benefit. On the other hand, there is no clear evolutionary advantage to learning an association between taste and flashing lights and noise, which is why the rats did not demonstrate this type of learning.

Psychologist John Garcia Found That Rats Did Not Learn to Associate