Which term refers to the doing of a behavior that does not necessarily indicate learning?

• A. Learning
• B. Performance
• C. Reasoning
• D. Memory

Answer: (B)

The doing of a behavior in a given moment doesn’t prove learning has occurred. The key idea is that learning is a lasting change in an animal’s capability, something that generalizes beyond a single session or setup. Performance is just the observable act you see right now, which can be influenced by temporary factors like current motivation, arousal, recent reinforcement, or distractions. A dog might sit because it’s hungry for a treat or because the cue was just given and the moment feels right, but that doesn’t automatically mean the dog has truly learned to sit in all contexts or without prompting. To determine learning, you’d look for consistent, generalized changes across different environments, times, and distractions, not just a single appearance of the behavior. Memory and reasoning describe other cognitive processes—recalling information and solving problems—not the immediate display of a behavior. So the term that best fits “the doing of a behavior that does not necessarily indicate learning” is performance.