Animal Behavior: Learning: Problems 2

Problem :

You have trained a Snuffleupagus how to build a fire. You put him back in his natural population of Snuffleupagi, and when you observe the population six months later, they all know how to build a fire. What type of learning is this?

Cultural inheritance.

Problem :

What stimuli are not involved in latent learning?

In latent learning, an animal familiarizes itself with a stimulus in the absence of a positive or negative stimulus in result.

Problem :

A rat is placed in a maze several times and allowed to find the only source of food, which is always in the same place in the maze. A second rat is then placed in the maze with the first. The first rat goes straight to the food without exploring the maze, and the second rat follows. The second rat now knows where the food is without having to explore the maze itself. What type of learning does the second rat show?

The second rat has learned by imitation.

Problem :

A bird is allowed to fly around to several different trees, none of which contain food. Food is then added to one tree and the bird is returned along with a second bird who has never seen the trees before. The first bird is able to find the food much more quickly than the second bird. What type of learning does the first bird display?

The first bird displays latent learning, because it has familiarized itself with the environment in the absence of a positive or negative stimulus.