You read about how learning preparedness influences the associations that an animal is capable of learning. You want to explore the learning preparedness of hamsters. How might you test the learning preparedness of this species?

Question

A.  Train hamsters to navigate a maze to reach a reward. Determine which hamsters are fastest -- thus, are most prepared to learn.
B.  Train hamsters to navigate a maze to reach a reward. Determine the time of day at which the hamsters are fastest -- thus, most prepared to learn.
C.  Train hamsters to choose between tunnels to find a reward. Switch the reward tunnel frequently, and determine which hamsters learn the new association the fastest.
D.  Train hamsters to choose between tunnels to find a reward, and mark the tunnels with different visual, tactile, chemosensory or auditory stimuli to see which associations are learnable.

Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?

What type of thinking is required?

Gather Content:
What do you already know about learning preparedness? What other information is related to the question? 

Choose Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?

Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
 

Answer 1

D.  Train hamsters to choose between tunnels to find a reward, and mark the tunnels with different visual, tactile, chemosensory or auditory stimuli to see which associations are learnable.


Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
The key concept is learning preparedness.

What type of thinking is required?
This is an evaluate question. You are given 4 different experimental designs. All are valid experiments but your task is to identify which would be the best to provide insight about how hamsters are predisposed to learn.

Gather Content:
What do you already know about learning preparedness? What other information is related to the question? 
This question comes from the section of the textbook that discusses the different types of learning. All of the experimental designs will produce data. The goal of the study is to identify which hamster instinctual behaviors are going to be most compatible with conditioning. Only one of the studies is designed to provide information about which sensory input are most important to a hamster.

Choose Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
The study presenting hamsters with different types of sensory information is going to assess what the learning preparedness of a hamster is.

Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
Did you choose the correct answer? All of the choices where valid experimental designs, but only one was the best choice for providing the information needed.