Question

I want to test whether my cat can discriminate between my petting style and my son's. We set ourselves up in a dark room; My son on my lap, and my cat next to me. I pet the cat once per 10 seconds. My cat pushes against my had at first, but eventually stops. At that point, I have my son pet the cat once, and observe whether or not the cat pushes against his hand. What type of experiment is this?

Answer 1

In the general sense, this is learned behavior that is an organism develops as a result of experience. Learned behaviors are different from innate behaviors in which organisms genetically hardwired and can be performed without any prior experience or training. This is Operant conditioning type behavior in that whenever an organism performs a behavior-or a mediate step on the way to the complete behavior-it is given a gift or a punishment.eg- pressurizing a lever -if once in a while. Through support, the organism is induced to perform the behavior more or less frequently.

In this question, if his son pretends cat by loving manner then the cat shows affection towards him.cat does not push his hand away.