It must include at least one lever, bar, or key that the animal can manipulate.
Other stimuli can also be presented, including lights, sounds, and images.
In some instances, the floor of the chamber may be electrified.
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The Skinner box is usually enclosed, to keep the animal from experiencing other stimuli.
Using the equipment, researchers can carefully study behavior in a very controlled environment.
Pigeons are placed in chambers where they receive a food pellet for pecking at a response key.
Some pigeons receive a pellet for every response (continuous reinforcement).
There are several types of partial reinforcement schedules.
This will tell them which schedules led to the highest and most consistent level of responses.
Nor did his daughter take her own life.
A Word From Verywell
The Skinner box is an important tool for studying learned behavior.
It has contributed a great deal to our understanding of the effects of reinforcement and punishment.
In:APA Dictionary of Psychology.American Psychological Association.
B.F. Skinner Foundation.Biographical information.
Schacter DL, Gilbert DT, Wegner DM.Psychology.2nd edition.
Worth, Inc., 2011.
2011;9(2):44-61.
