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puzzle box

in experimental research, a box in which a nonhuman animal must manipulate some type of device, such as a latch, to escape from the box or to get a reward. It was originally used in 1898, in the form of the Thorndike Puzzle Box (a wooden box with slatted sides and a door that could be opened by the animal inside), by Edward L. Thorndike in studying animal learning and intelligence.

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Psychology term of the day

February 16th 2025

cause

cause

n.

1. an event or state that brings about another (its effect).

2. in Aristotelian and rationalist philosophy, an entity or event that is a requirement for another entity or event’s coming to be. Aristotle proposed that there were four types of cause—material, formal, efficient, and final. In the case of a sculpture, for example, the material cause is the stone or metal from which it is made, the formal cause is the form or structure that it takes, the efficient cause is the sculptor, and the final cause is the sculptor’s aim or purpose in making it. —causal adj.