Question

brooklyn is frustrated because her cat keeps jumping up on the counter in the kitchen. to help the cat learn to not do this, brooklyn sprays the cat with a water bottle whenever this happens. the cat does not like being sprayed, and jumps off the counter when it happens. brooklyn has used which type of operant conditioning on her cat?

Answer 1

Brooklyn implemented operant conditioning to discourage her cat from jumping on the counter by using a water spray as a punishment.

Step-by-step explanation:

Brooklyn has used operant conditioning on her cat by spraying it with water when it jumps onto the counter. Operant conditioning occurs when an animal's behavior is modified by the consequences, in this case, the unpleasant experience of being sprayed with water serves as a punishment that decreases the likelihood of the behavior (jumping on the counter) being repeated.

Operant conditioning involves the use of rewards (positive reinforcement) or punishments (negative reinforcement) to increase or decrease a behavior. In this instance, Brooklyn's cat learns to associate the negative consequence (being sprayed) with the action of jumping on the counter, thus becoming less likely to perform that behavior in the future. The use of spraying water acts as a deterrent or type of punishment, making this method a clear example of operant conditioning, a concept founded by psychologist B.F. Skinner. Unlike classical conditioning, which involves the association of two stimuli, operant conditioning is about associating a behavior with its consequence.