Exam 7: Learning and Adaptation: the Role of Experience

You are driving down the freeway rather quickly because you are late for a meeting, but you notice a police car parked on the side of the freeway. You quickly apply the brakes and slow down to the speed limit. In this instance, the police car represents a

Imagine that you wish to condition a dog to salivate in response to a particular song that you play on your CD player. Prior to beginning the learning trials, the song would be considered a(n) _________stimulus.

According to behaviourists the formation of phobias is due to what type of learning?

Which phenomenon best demonstrates the idea that, from a cognitive perspective, perceived contingencies of actions may sometimes be a more accurate predictor of behaviour than actual consequences?

Shannon is absorbed in the latest novel and is surprised when she looks at the clock and sees that it is dinnertime. Normally, Shannon starts feeling hungry about 5:30 pm every night but now it is 6:00 pm and her stomach just started to rumble. On her way to the dining hall, Shannon starts feeling very hungry. In Shannon's case, the unconditioned stimulus is

In a research study, a dog learned to salivate in response to a tone presented alone. In this case, the salivation would technically be considered a(n)

A college student is allergic to pollen. Whenever they are near a flower, they develop an extreme allergic reaction. Interestingly, whenever the student is near a silk or fake flower, they also have an extreme allergic reaction despite the absence of pollen. In this example, the fake flower is the ___________ and the allergic reaction it causes is the ___________ response.

David's mother is terrified of snakes. When David sees how much snakes scare her, he also feels scared of snakes. This is an example of

According to Bandura, if you believe that you have the capability to perform behaviours that produce desired outcomes, you have a high degree of

If we responded continuously to every stimulus in the environment we would quickly become fatigued and overwhelmed which means that __________________ has strong adaptive significance.

Emily developed a phobia of snakes after a serious accident. According to classical conditioning, snakes would be considered an example of a

Why do exposure therapies work? Provide a concrete example to help illustrate your answer.

A reinforcement system designed to reinforce desired behaviours that utilizes such items as points or chips that can be redeemed later for tangible rewards is called

You are conducting an experiment in which you are trying to manipulate the immune response of rats by using the principles of classical conditioning. First, for several days of an experiment, you give rats artificially sweetened water with an immune system-enhancing drug in it. You later remove the drug and notice that the immune systems of rats are boosted when they consume the sweetened water. In your experiment, what is the unconditioned response (UCR)?

Define the constructs of preparedness and instinctual drift and provide an example of each. What do these concepts suggest about the relationship between biology and learning?

What is aversion therapy and how effective are they? Outline how you might use aversion therapy to help someone quit smoking.

A newly diagnosed diabetic patient met with a health educator. The patient learns that consuming 3 full slices of cake every day is not a good option given the new diagnosis with diabetes. The patient reminds the health educator that eating cake is something they take pleasure in. The health educator creates a new plan for the patient that involve cutting down on the cake intake by half a slice every 2 weeks for the next 3 months. The patient agrees to the plan. This type of intervention is an example of?

Much of organisms' behaviours are influenced in subtle ways by classical conditioning. Classical conditioning can NOT influence _____________.

Though the techniques are powerful, research has failed to demonstrate how the principles of classical conditioning can impact the functioning of the immune system.

What is habituation and what is its adaptive significance?