Read the statements carefully and choose the correct option: Statement: (i) Ivan Pavlov wrote a book named conditioned reflexes. Statement:(ii) The participant 'Little Albert' is connected with Thorndike. Statement: (iii) Skinner designed a sound proof apparatus, known as Skinner Tank.

Q: Read the statements carefully and choose the correct option: Statement: (i) Ivan Pavlov wrote a book named conditioned reflexes. Statement:(ii) The participant 'Little Albert' is connected with Thorndike. Statement: (iii) Skinner designed a sound proof apparatus, known as Skinner Tank.

Read the statements carefully and choose the correct option: Statement: (i) Ivan Pavlov wrote a book named conditioned reflexes. Statement:(ii) The participant 'Little Albert' is connected with Thorndike. Statement: (iii) Skinner designed a sound proof apparatus, known as Skinner Tank.

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is (3):
Only statements (i) and (iii) are correct. Statement (i) correctly links Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov with his seminal work on Classical Conditioning, which was published in a major scientific monograph often translated into English under the title Conditioned Reflexes. This book detailed his extensive research on how a neutral stimulus could be paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a learned, or conditioned, response, primarily through his famous experiments on the salivation response in dogs. Statement (iii) is also correct in its essence, as B.F. Skinner, the proponent of Operant Conditioning, is famous for designing the sound-proof, environmentally controlled Operant Conditioning Chamber. While this apparatus is universally known as the 'Skinner Box' and not the 'Skinner Tank,' the description of a sound-proof apparatus designed by Skinner for his experiments on reinforcement and punishment is fundamentally true. Therefore, as statements (i) and (iii) are accurate representations of historical facts in psychology, this option is the correct choice.

The incorrect option is (1):
All the statements are correct. This option is incorrect because Statement (ii) is factually wrong. The famous participant 'Little Albert' was the subject of an experiment conducted by behaviorist John B. Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner in 1920, not Edward Thorndike. The Little Albert experiment demonstrated how fear could be classically conditioned in a human infant. Edward Thorndike, a highly influential learning theorist, is instead known for his work with cats in 'puzzle boxes,' which led him to formulate the Law of Effect, a cornerstone of operant (instrumental) conditioning, a concept distinct from classical conditioning. Since one statement is incorrect, the option claiming all three are correct must be rejected.

The incorrect option is (2):
Only statements (i) and (ii) are correct. This option is incorrect for two main reasons. Firstly, as established, statement (ii) is factually incorrect because the 'Little Albert' experiment is associated with John B. Watson, not Edward Thorndike. Secondly, this option ignores the correctness of statement (iii). Skinner’s sound-proof apparatus, the Skinner Box, is a key component of his experimental methodology for studying operant behavior. A correct option must include all the accurate statements from the list. Therefore, pairing the correct statement (i) with the incorrect statement (ii) makes this option invalid.

The incorrect option is (4):
Only statement (i) is correct. This option is incorrect because it fails to acknowledge the correctness of statement (iii). Statement (iii) is a factual description of B.F. Skinner's contribution to experimental psychology by developing the sound-proof chamber, or Skinner Box. Although the term 'Skinner Tank' is unusual, the core fact that he designed a key piece of sound-proof apparatus for controlled experiments on learning remains valid. Since statement (iii) is also correct alongside statement (i), selecting only statement (i) as correct is incomplete and misleading.