<p>Your second guess is correct.</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulus%E2%80%93response_model" rel="nofollow noreferrer">stimulus–response model</a>, the &quot;stimulus&quot; typically refers to external stimuli. Internal states such as hunger are not part of the model.</p>
<p>As such, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF03392130" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jensen (2006)</a> discusses the natural behaviour of rats in mazes with respect to their biological predispositions (phylogenic) and the structure of the maze (ontogenic). Rats tend to explore spaces rather than stay still, they seek open spaces over dead ends, and prefer novel areas over repeated visits. The availability of space to explore, open corridors vs blind alleys, and unexplored sections of the maze constitute the stimuli, to which the rats respond by choosing which parts of the maze to traverse.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-04T09:10:54.880Z
Great, and with lever pressing as in a Skinner's box, the lever is the stimuli and the lever pressing constitutes the response?
Leo Juhlin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-04T16:52:49.260Z
This might be better as a separate question - operant conditioning is different... Rats do not have an innate propensity to press levers as they do to explore mazes, so the trick is to change that. One can think of a queue stimulus, or lever stimulus, but traditionally the reinforcer (eg, food pellet) is considered the stimulus (ie, R-S rather than S-R).
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-05T08:57:31.090Z
Makes sense, thanks for the clarification. But is there another example except for a maze to illustrate the stimulus-response model?
Leo Juhlin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-05T17:16:27.343Z
Google has lots: Reflexes (hot stove -> withdraw hand), Pavlovian (bell -> salivate), learned (phone ring -> answer the phone), etc.
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-03T17:29:32.233Z
2024-04-03T17:29:32.233Z
Arnon Weinberg
<p>I am currently reading a review called &quot;Behaviorism, Latent Learning, and Cognitive Maps:
Needed Revisions in Introductory Psychology Textbooks&quot;. In the review, the author writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The prevailing behavioral theories
throughout the period of experimental research into latent learning were
generally stimulus–response (S-R) association theories; two of the leading
S-R association proponents were Clark Hull and Edwin Guthrie</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He goes on to discuss how these theories could be used to explain the phenomenon of latent learning in Tolman's 14 unit maze experiment.</p>
<p>What I have a hard time understanding is what, in the Tolman maze, would be considered the stimuli and what is the response?</p>
<p>Is the stimuli the hunger the rat is experiencing at the start, and the response is the rat moving through the maze?</p>
<p>Or is the stimuli the cues the rat is using to navigate through the maze, and the response is still the rat moving through the maze?</p>

<learning><behaviorism><reinforcement-learning>
Question about stimulus-response assocation theories
Leo Juhlin
# Question about stimulus-response assocation theories

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-04-03)

I am currently reading a review called "Behaviorism, Latent Learning, and Cognitive Maps:
Needed Revisions in Introductory Psychology Textbooks". In the review, the author writes:

> The prevailing behavioral theories
> throughout the period of experimental research into latent learning were
> generally stimulus–response (S-R) association theories; two of the leading
> S-R association proponents were Clark Hull and Edwin Guthrie

He goes on to discuss how these theories could be used to explain the phenomenon of latent learning in Tolman's 14 unit maze experiment.

What I have a hard time understanding is what, in the Tolman maze, would be considered the stimuli and what is the response?

Is the stimuli the hunger the rat is experiencing at the start, and the response is the rat moving through the maze?

Or is the stimuli the cues the rat is using to navigate through the maze, and the response is still the rat moving through the maze?

**Tags:** learning, behaviorism, reinforcement-learning


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-04-03. Score: 3

Your second guess is correct.

In the [stimulus–response model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulus%E2%80%93response_model), the "stimulus" typically refers to external stimuli. Internal states such as hunger are not part of the model.

As such, [Jensen (2006)](https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF03392130) discusses the natural behaviour of rats in mazes with respect to their biological predispositions (phylogenic) and the structure of the maze (ontogenic). Rats tend to explore spaces rather than stay still, they seek open spaces over dead ends, and prefer novel areas over repeated visits. The availability of space to explore, open corridors vs blind alleys, and unexplored sections of the maze constitute the stimuli, to which the rats respond by choosing which parts of the maze to traverse.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Great, and with lever pressing as in a Skinner's box, the lever is the stimuli and the lever pressing constitutes the response?  
> **username_1**: This might be better as a separate question - operant conditioning is different... Rats do not have an innate propensity to press levers as they do to explore mazes, so the trick is to change that. One can think of a queue stimulus, or lever stimulus, but traditionally the reinforcer (eg, food pellet) is considered the stimulus (ie, R-S rather than S-R).  
> **username_0**: Makes sense, thanks for the clarification. But is there another example except for a maze to illustrate the stimulus-response model?  
> **username_1**: Google has lots: Reflexes (hot stove -> withdraw hand), Pavlovian (bell -> salivate), learned (phone ring -> answer the phone), etc.  

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