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Read these lines: "A few minutes later she has used up all her gains and is $10 in the hole. Now might be a sensible time to quit. And yet, she keeps putting money into the slot machine because she never knows when the next reinforcement is coming." Based on the quoted lines, why does Sarah keep playing even while losing?
AShe has a careful plan to win back exactly the ten dollars she lost
BThe chance that the very next coin could pay off keeps pulling her back
CThe machine returns a small amount on every quarter that she puts in
DShe promised her friends she would stay at the machine until midnight
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. The chance that the very next coin could pay off keeps pulling her back
1. The quoted lines say she is ten dollars down and that quitting would be the sensible move.
2. Yet she continues because she never knows when the next reinforcement is coming.
3. Not knowing when the payoff will arrive means any coin might be the winner, which is exactly option B.
4. Option A invents a careful plan, while the quoted lines show her acting against what would be sensible.
5. Option C contradicts the quoted lines, where many quarters produce nothing at all.
6. Option D adds friends and a promise that appear nowhere in the quoted lines.
_Source: OpenStax Psychology 1e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Learning", section 6.3 Operant Conditioning_
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