Which situation would a strict behaviorist have difficulty explaining?

• A. A person suddenly recalling a childhood memory without any observable external stimulus
• B. A student raising their hand after being praised for doing so in the past
• C. A dog salivating when it hears a bell that has been repeatedly paired with food
• D. A child learning to tie their shoes after repeated demonstration and practice

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the core principle of strict behaviorism: it focuses on observable behaviors and external stimuli, emphasizing learning through conditioning and reinforcement, while generally excluding internal mental states or processes.
2. Analyze each situation by identifying whether it involves observable behavior linked to external stimuli or reinforcement, or if it involves internal mental processes without clear external triggers.
3. For the situation where a student raises their hand after being praised, recognize this as operant conditioning, where behavior is influenced by reinforcement (praise). This fits well within behaviorist explanations.
4. For the dog salivating at the sound of a bell, identify this as classical conditioning, where a neutral stimulus (bell) becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus (food), leading to a conditioned response (salivation). This is a classic behaviorist example.
5. For the child learning to tie their shoes after repeated demonstration and practice, see this as learning through imitation and reinforcement, which behaviorists can explain through stimulus-response associations and reinforcement history.
6. For the person suddenly recalling a childhood memory without any observable external stimulus, note that this involves internal mental processes (memory recall) without an external trigger, which strict behaviorism struggles to explain because it does not account for internal cognitive states.