Exam 6: Learning

Pavlov conditioned a dog to salivate at a bell sound that was paired with a meat stimulus. After the CS-UCS linkage was strongly established, Pavlov then presented the dog with several flashes of a light followed by the bell sound. After a few days, when the light flashes were presented by themselves, the dog salivated. This is an example of

Which of the following theorists believed that most of learning occurred by trial and error?

Allison is trying to teach her cat to use the toilet rather than the litter box to go to the bathroom. She initially moves the litter box into the bathroom and gives her cat a treat when she uses it. Then she moves the litter box on top of the toilet and gives her cat a treat when she uses it. Next, she uses a toilet insert that has litter in it but requires her cat to balance on the toilet seat to go to the bathroom. When her cat successfully does this, Allison gives her a treat. Allison is using which of the following processes of operant conditioning?

Distinguish between positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. Provide an example of each.

Pavlov placed meat powder in the mouths of dogs, and they began to salivate. In this example, what is the food?

Which of the following is true concerning intermittent schedules of reinforcement?

When Sherry has a shower in the morning, she is typically late for work and her boss takes away her coffee break. As a result, Sherry has stopped showering in the morning. This is an example of operant concept?

Imagine that your friend has told you a joke. Provide examples of how you could apply positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. Indicate also what effect each of those four consequences would have on your friend's likelihood of telling jokes.

When the CS is repeatedly presented in the absence of the UCS (food, in this case), the CR will weaken in a process called

Which of the following is an example of the Premack principle?

Mark and Kathy take their two-year-old son to the supermarket every Saturday. Each week, the same sequence of events unfolds: Their son screams, demanding that they buy him treats. Although they refuse to give in to his demands, he continues to scream. Finally, either Mark or Kathy gets in their son's face and yells at the top of their lungs, "Shut up!" He stops screaming instantly. What operant conditioning concepts are illustrated in this story?

John has to give his cat Garfield a pill every day. He always opens up the pill bottle (which makes a popping sound) and removes one pill before giving it to Garfield, and he follows this by giving him a treat as a reward. After a while, John notices that when he opens up the pill bottle, Garfield comes running to him right away. In this example, the __________ is the conditioned response.

Learning is said to be a relatively permanent change in behaviour because

If you are paid every Friday, regardless of how much work you've done, then you've been paid on a __________ schedule of reinforcement.