A Little Boy Is Staying Home Alone for the First

question 26

Essay

A little boy is staying home alone for the first time when a tree branch falls onto the roof. He makes a perceptual error, concluding that the noise is a burglar breaking into his house. Describe the way he might have experienced this event, moving through the three stages of the perceptual process.

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Definitions:

B F Skinner

An American psychologist known for his work in behaviorism and the development of the theory of operant conditioning.

Observable Behaviours

Actions or reactions of an individual that can be directly seen and measured.

Behaviourism

A theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behavior and investigates how organisms learn new behaviors or modify existing ones, depending on whether events in their environments reward or punish these behaviors.

Unconscious

A part of the mind that hosts thoughts, memories, and desires not present in conscious awareness, influencing behavior and decisions.