High School

After attempting to get her parrot to say "Polly is a pretty bird" for a week, Holly offers him a cracker. Polly immediately says "Polly is a pretty bird." This is an example of _____ learning.

a) Social reinforcement
b) Observational
c) Latent

Answer :

Final answer:

The parrot displaying the behavior of repeating the phrase after receiving a cracker demonstrates operant conditioning, where a behavior is reinforced by a consequence, in this case, a reward.

Explanation:

The scenario where Polly the parrot immediately says "Polly is a pretty bird" after Holly offers him a cracker is an example of operant conditioning. This type of learning occurs when behaviors are influenced by the consequences that follow them. In this case, the parrot has learned to associate saying the phrase with the reward of a cracker, thus the behavior is reinforced and more likely to be repeated in the future. The parrot's learning process does not involve social models or mimicry, which are characteristic of observational learning, nor is it latent learning, which is learning that occurs without immediate reinforcement or manifestation.