A researcher investigating operant conditioning conducted a study with a cat. The cat was placed inside a wooden puzzle box. In order to exit the box and access a bowl of food placed outside, the cat had to successfully pull a suspended loop of string, which unlatched the exit door.
Once a day for seven consecutive days, the cat was placed inside the box, and the researcher recorded the time taken (in seconds) for the cat to pull the string, open the door, and escape.
Table 1: Raw data showing escape times over seven days
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time taken to escape (in seconds) | 90 | 72 | 48 | 30 | 18 | 12 | 7 |
Using your knowledge of operant conditioning, explain the results shown in Table 1.
248 exam-style questions on AQA A Level Psychology Approaches in Psychology, covering Learning approaches, Cognitive approach, Biological approach, Psychodynamic approach (A-level only), Humanistic Psychology (A-level only), and Comparison of approaches (A-level only). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.