Skinner's Box of Shocks

Question: Can any animal be trained to do a specific action when reinforced properly?
Hypothesis: An animal can be trained to perform specific actions when reinforced.
Type of Experiment: This experiment was a laboratory experiment.
Ethical Issues and Concerns: The ethical problems regarding this experiment are mostly pertaining to the treatment of the rat. Electrocuting the rat is painful to the animal, and therefore is unethical and cruel.
Description of Study: BF Skinner placed a starving rat into a box (picture shown). He first attempted to positively reinforce the rat. When the rat would push down on a lever, a pellet would be dispensed from the dispenser. This trained the rat to push the lever when it needed food. Later, Skinner attempted negative reinforcement, and placed an electrified grid underneath the rat. This electrocuted the rat constantly until the rat pushed down on the lever. In this way the rat learned to perform an action in order to stop the pain. This is one of Skinner’s most famous studies regarding operant conditioning.

Name of Author: Sammi Fisher