Question

The case of superstitious behavior illustrates the fact that: learning can occur when the reinforcer is delayed. learning occurs when the correlation between the ongoing behavior and the response is zero. the correlation between response and reinforcer does not necessitate a causal relation. a causal relation between response and reinforcer is required for learning to occur.

Answer 1

Superstitious beliefs may spring out from a causal relation between the response and the reinforcer. For instance, stepping on floor cracks on Friday the 13th as a response and falling off the stairs on the same day as the reinforcer will validate the belief that it is indeed bad luck to step on cracks on Friday the 13th. So when the next Friday the 13th comes, the person has learned to avoid floor cracks to avoid bad luck since the relationship of both has been validated once before.