rat-food-lever-experiment

His B. F. Skinner most notable experiment involved placing a rat inside an enclosed chamber. When the rat pressed a lever, a food pellet was released. Naturally, the rat learned to press the lever whenever it was hungry. But then one day, there was an unexpected twist—the contraption broke. A rat pressed the lever, and the pellet dispenser jammed. Instead of a snack, the rat got nothing. Eventually, the rat stopped pressing the lever. No behavior continues if it’s not getting reinforced. This is called extinction. Just like the dinosaurs, the behavior died out. But before the rat gave up, an interesting thing happened: it pressed the lever like crazy. Over and over and over it pressed, hoping that if it were persistent enough, it would get a delicious rat pellet. This is called an extinction burst. Behaviors don’t give up without a fight. - Gordon, Alan; Ziv, Alon. The Way Out (p. 98). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. - Book: The Way Out