Short story about a scientist abducted and experimented on by aliens [duplicate]

Question

It's a short fiction story in which a scientist was abducted by aliens and taken aboard their ship. The aliens wanted to know whether humanity was worthy of continued existence or not, so they took "the best sample" — a scientist — and conducted mental experiments on him, such as putting him through mazes and giving him erotic journals, in order to find out.

Initially, the man passed the tests, but then he started to get angry, feeling like a rat in a maze (he himself conducted experiments on rats), and began to do creepy things during the experiments, intentionally failing them. The aliens couldn't understand why he was doing this, but decided, based on this unknown behavior, that all of humanity should be destroyed.

I read this 12-15 years ago and I think this story was written in 50s or 60s — the golden age of American fiction stories. The story was both humorous and sad, with a lot of thinking by the captured scientist.

Answer 1

"Learning Theory", a short story by James McConnell which was also the answer to the question Literature scene where a man determines he's in a space station by doing some tests; first published in If, December 1957, available at the Internet Archive. You may have read it in one of these compilations.

As I sit here in this small room and think about it, I am impressed most of all by the suddenness of the whole thing. At one moment I was out walking in the woods near my suburban home. The next thing I knew, here I was in a small, featureless room, naked as a jaybird, with only my powers of rationalization to stand between me and insanity.

[. . . .]

My means of escape is therefore obvious. He expects from me confirmation of all His pet theories. Well, he won't get it any more! I know all of His theories backwards and forwards, and this means I know how to give Him results that will tear His theories right smack in half!

[. . . .]

Verpk's vote notwithstanding, however, the rest of us are of the considered opinion that this whole new colony must be destroyed, and quickly. For it is obviously diseased or some such — as reference to our theories has proven. And should it by some chance come in contact with our other colonies, and infect our other animals with whatever disease or aberration it has, we would never be able to predict their behavior again. I need not carry the argument further, I think.

May we have your permission to destroy the colony as soon as possible, then, so that we may search out yet other colonies and test our theories against other healthy animals? For it is only in this fashion that science progresses.