Question

Frances puts a hungry rat into an experimental chamber. whenever the rat presses a lever, food falls into a tray. in about 30 minutes, the rat is pressing the lever steadily. frances returns the rat to the training cage for one hour a day every day until the rat produces young. frances then trains one of this rat's offspring in the same manner as its mother and repeats this procedure for generation after generation. you predict that when the twelfth generation rat is put into the training cage, it will press the lever steadily in about ____.

Answer 1

It'll still be about 30 minutes, being able to complete a specific task that you must be taught first isn't hereditary, so it'd be about the same. 

For instance, if a woman is an amazing pianist, and she has a daughter, would the daughter also be a professional pianist automatically? No, she'd have to be taught how to play first. Sure, certain genetic traits that may help play piano more easily may have a say in it, i.e., longer fingers, but the talent of playing piano isn't passed on from mother to child through reproduction.