The Kerplunk experiment was a stimulus and response experiment conducted on rats[1] and demonstrates the ability to turn voluntary motor responses into a conditioned response.[2] The purpose of the experiment was to get kinaesthetic feedback rather than guidance through external stimuli[3] through maze learning.[2] It was conducted in 1907 by John B. Watson and Harvey A. Carr[1][3] and was named after the sound the rat made after running into the end of the maze.[4] The study would help form a chain of responses, hypothesis proposed by Watson.[4]
The study's findings would later give credibility to stimulus and response interpretations that rewards work by strengthening the learned ability to show a habitual motor action in the presence of a particular stimulus.
- ^ a b Sheehy, Noel; Chapman, Anthony J. (1997). Biographical dictionary of psychology. Conroy, Wendy A. (Reprint ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 606. ISBN 0-415-09997-8.
- ^ a b Grossman, D. "The Birth of Behavioral Psychology". Academic Pres. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
- ^ a b Medin, Douglas L. (2000). Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory. Academic Press. p. 227. ISBN 0-12-543340-9.
- ^ a b Ballantyne, Paul F. "The "Kerplunk" Experiment". Archived from the original on 2009-06-29. Retrieved 2009-05-12.