【正确答案】A Skinner Box is a small box that's empty except for a cup and a bar. When the bar over the cup is depressed, a food pellet drops into the cup. An animal that's placed in a Skinner Box will explore the environment for food, and at some point, will accidentally hit the bar, releasing the pellet. So...after the animal hits the bar about three or four times and it's rewarded with food, then it learns how to find food, using the bar, and it begins to hit the bar on purpose. The Skinner Box, or something like it, it's commonly used in psychology experiments that involve behavior modification. By presenting a subject with the opportunity for a reward, the behavior that produces the reward is reinforced. In the case of the classic experiment, the subject's opportunity for a reward is a food pellet, and the behavior that's reinforced is pressing the bar, but many types of rewards and behaviors have been used.

【答案解析】[听力原文] There have been several references to the Skinner Box in your textbook because a lot of behavioral modification experiments still use similar devices, even today, so let's just take a few minutes and make sure that everyone understands exactly what a Skinner Box is and how it works. The box which was named for B. F. Skinner, the American psychologist who developed it...was used in Skinner's original experiment in 1932, and its construction hasn't changed much from that time. It's just a small, empty box, really, except for a bar with a cup underneath it. So picture this: In Skinner's experiment, a rat that had been deprived of food for twenty four hours was placed in the box. As the animal began to explore its new environment, it accidentally hit the bar, and a food pellet dropped into the cup. The rat ate the pellet and continued exploring for more food. After hitting the bar three or four times with similar results, the animal started hitting the bar with intention instead of by accident. It had learned it could get food by pressing the bar. In other words, the food stimulus reinforced the bar pressing response. So... many psychology experiments were modeled after Skinner's original research. Um, various animals have been placed in modified Skinner Boxes and presented with conditions that will result in a reward—food or some other desirable object or experience. In most of the behavior modification experiments in your book, you'll see a citation for Skinner's classic study.