The table below shows how long a young rat took to find a food box in a maze during ten daily trials. The route was unchanged. At the end of the route, the ...
Question 1 Report
The table below shows how long a young rat took to find a food box in a maze during ten daily trials. The route was unchanged. At the end of the route, the rat received a small piece of banana. The student cleaned the maze between trials so that scent marks from the rat did not guide it. Water was available in its home cage after each trial.
| Trial number | Time to reach food box / s |
|---|---|
| 1 | 92 |
| 2 | 71 |
| 3 | 54 |
| 4 | 39 |
| 5 | 31 |
| 10 | 18 |
(a) Describe the pattern in the rat's times. [2]
(b) Calculate the decrease in time between trial 1 and trial 10. [1]
(c) Explain why receiving food may cause the rat to repeat the successful route. [2]
Answer Details
(a) Time decreases as trial number increases [1]; it falls from 92 s to 18 s / decreases rapidly at first then more slowly [1] (b) 92 - 18 = 74 s [1] (c) Food is a reward [1]; the reward reinforces the behaviour / makes the rat more likely to repeat the route [1]
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