Using an operant chamber, Skinner timed food pellets to drop every 15 minutes. If a rat was in a certain location just before the food was presented, the rat went to that location more frequently even though it was not directly tied to the appearance of food. Which of the following best explains this superstitious behavior?a. Reinforcement for a task already enjoyed can backfire, reducing intrinsic motivation. b. A continuous reinforcement schedule will lead to the most rapid learning. c. Any behavior that is accidentally reinforced is more likely to be repeated. d. Conditioned reinforcers get their power through learned association with primary reinforcers. e. Learning sometimes becomes apparent when there is some incentive to demonstrate it.

- Any behavior that is accidentally reinforced is more likely to be repeated.

Explanation:

Superstitious behavior could be described as 'a behavior that is reinforced coincidentally due to temporal contiguity/closeness between an independent behavior and the distribution of reinforcer.' Skinner, the famous psychologist, showed this through his experiment in which the 'rats were susceptible to human behavior as they knew that arriving at that place would assist them in getting the food'(however, not being related directly). Such behavior exemplifies the superstitious behavior(that has been reinforced on rats accidentally) which makes them behave in a certain way to get the desired results(food).  

a compare and contrast essay is a piece of formal writing in which the author focus on the similarities between two ideas, objects, places, etc., and the differences between them. there are some aspects that the author should take into account when he/she is crafting the essay. first, the author has a clear idea of the effect that he/she wants to produce on the audience (a purpose). his/her main idea should be presented in the thesis statement in a simple but effective way which gives the audience a clear idea of the content and the direction of the essay. in addition, it is also important to focus to the similarities and differences that not only are interesting and relevant to the reader but also provide a new, impressive point of view or deeper understanding of a topic.