Which term best describes a dog's learned behavior to persist despite rewards not being provided anymore?

The term that best describes a dog's learned behavior to persist in a certain action despite the absence of rewards is known as the Partial Reinforcement Extinction Effect (PREE). This phenomenon occurs when an animal has been trained using a partial reinforcement schedule, where not every correct behavior is rewarded. As a result, the individual tends to continue the behavior for a longer duration even when rewards are no longer given compared to those that have been reinforced continuously.

PREE illustrates how intermittent reinforcement can strengthen a behavior, making it more resilient to extinction. When a dog has been rewarded only sometimes, it has learned to anticipate rewards and maintains the behavior longer, demonstrating persistence in the absence of immediate reinforcement. This characteristic is critical for trainers to understand as it helps in strategizing training sessions and managing expected behaviors effectively, especially when transitioning to less frequent rewards.