Question

Andrea wants to be a dog groomer. She has enrolled in a training academy operated by Petsmart to learn how dogs should be handled during grooming. The moment Andrea attended the indoctrination class at the training academy was an example of a(n):

Answer 1

Andrea's attendance at a dog grooming training session is an example of associative learning through operant conditioning, which is learning by associating behaviors with their outcomes, unlike classical conditioning where a reflex is triggered by a new stimulus.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the context of learning and behavior, Andrea's attendance at the indoctrination class at the training academy is an example of associative learning. More specifically, she is likely to be engaging in what is known as operant conditioning, as she learns to associate specific grooming techniques and dog handling methods with the consequences that follow, such as successfully groomed dogs or positive feedback from trainers. This learning process is distinct from classical conditioning, which was demonstrated in Pavlov's dog experiments, where dogs learned to associate a bell with food and began to salivate at the sound of the bell, a natural reflex response to an artificial stimulus. In contrast, operant conditioning involves a more active process where the learner is rewarded or punished for producing a certain behavior, thereby increasing or decreasing the likelihood of that behavior in the future. An example of operant conditioning is when a pet is rewarded for doing a trick, whereas classical conditioning is similar to how a student learns to associate studying with improvements in test scores.