Final answer:
The student's scenario describes operant conditioning, where a rat learns to press a lever to receive food when a light is on, associatively learning the behavior's consequences.
Step-by-step explanation:
The scenario of training a rat to press a lever when a light is on and only when the light is on represents a classic example of operant conditioning, as defined by the psychologist B.F. Skinner. Operant conditioning is a type of associative learning where an organism learns to associate a behavior with its consequences, like a reward or punishment. In the context of this scenario, as the rat in the Skinner box learns to associate the pressing of the lever (the behavior) with receiving food (the positive reinforcement), it adjusts its behavior accordingly to receive more food, demonstrating operant conditioning.