Exam 5: Operant Conditioning: Learning the Outcome of Behaviors

Darren is trying to get his young son to eat his peas. At first, Darren praises him whenever he moves his fork near the peas; after the child does this reliably, Darren praises him only if he actually puts a pea on his fork; then Darren's praise is only given when the child puts a pea on his fork and moves the fork toward his mouth. Darren carries on this way until the child eats his peas. Darren is using _____ to get his son to eat his peas.

Jonah has listened to his new CD over and over since he bought it. His favorite song is the fourth song on the album. Now, when he hears the third song, he becomes excited in anticipation of hearing his upcoming favorite song. Is this an example of classical or operant conditioning? Explain.

Which statement is an example of how discriminative stimuli can encourage cheating?

A mouse is placed in a maze and timed to see how long it takes him to reach the end. Once the first trial is completed, the experimenter places him back in the maze again to see if the speed in which he completes it changes; this is referred to as a:

The orbitofrontal cortex is particularly important for learning:

Describe how the distinction between wanting a drug and liking a drug is implemented in the brain.

A postreinforcement pause is seen when _____ schedules of reinforcement are used.

The main difference between reinforcement and punishment is that:

The process of providing consequences for a behavior that decreases the probability of that behavior is called:

Indicate which schedule of partial reinforcement (FR, VR, FI, or VI) is being used in the following example: A manager gets his paycheck every other Friday. Explain the selected choice.

Rats that are given a dopamine antagonist will:

A pigeon is given a choice between pecking an upper key on a VI 2' schedule and pecking a lower key on a VI 4' schedule. According to the matching law of choice behavior, the pigeon should:

Give one example of negative reinforcement, and explain why it is negative reinforcement. Make clear what behavior is being reinforced in the example.

If one has just finished eating one's favorite meal, then that meal will probably have _____ hedonic value and _____ motivational value.

Increasing dopamine appears to:

If an organism expects its favorite reinforcer but receives a less-preferred reinforcer, the phenomenon of _____ predicts that the organism may respond less than if it had received that less-preferred reinforcer at the start.

Drug addicts continue taking drugs in part to avoid the unpleasant effects of withdrawal. In this case, the behavior of taking drugs is being:

Which area of the brain was informally known as the "pleasure center" after Old's experiment where the rats "liked" the electrical stimulation?

Using an umbrella when it rains allows one to escape from getting wet. In this case, the stimulus is _____, the response is _____, and the outcome is _____.

Suppose one has a friend who drinks alcohol. How would one determine whether her drinking is just a bad habit and not a pathological addiction?