According to Tolman, how do rats learn to solve a maze? Describe how hypothesis formation, vicarious trial and error, expectancy, belief, and cognitive maps contribute in this process in your answer.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

If a rat is placed into a new maze, it will first sometimes turn left and sometimes turn
right. If the experimenter has arranged the situation so that turning left in reinforced,
the rat will eventually develop a hypothesis that turning left leads to food and turning
right does not. In the early stages of hypothesis formation, the rat may stop to ponder
whether to turn right or left at a decision point—this is vicarious trial and error
because the rat is mentally testing out the possibilities. If the rat’s hypothesis about
getting food when it turns left is confirmed, the animal will develop the expectancy to
find food when it turns left. If the expectancy is consistently confirmed, the animal will
develop the belief “Every time I turn left in this situation, I will find food.” Through
this process, a cognitive map of this situation develops—an awareness of all
possibilities in a situation—for example: If I leave the start box, I will find the choice
point; if I turn left at the choice point, I will find food; if I turn right, I will not; and so
on.