Exam 5: Learning

You walk up to a soda machine and put in a dollar, and are rewarded with a bottle of root beer. When you put in another dollar, you get another soda. Assuming that the machine has a limitless supply of root beer, which kind of reinforcement schedule does this machine operate on?

Under what circumstances will a reinforcer make the target response more likely to occur again?

At the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., a polar bear suffered a broken tooth, and keepers needed a safe way of treating the problem. The bear was rewarded first for sticking its nose through a slot in the cage door, then for allowing a keeper to lift its lip and touch its teeth. Finally, a veterinarian was able to treat the damaged tooth while the bear waited placidly for its familiar reward. This is an example of __________.

Of the four basic elements of classical conditioning, the one the organism learns to respond to is the __________.

Alexa is trying to figure out how she can BEST use employee pay to shape her employees' behavior. She is worried about consistent behavior, not speed. Therefore, she is interested in getting a slow but steady rate of response from her workers. According to reinforcement principles, she should probably use a __________ schedule.

A discriminative stimulus is a stimulus that __________.

Ian finds that if he washes his car prior to going out on the town, more of his friends want to ride along with him. What theory would best explain his willingness to always wash and clean his car before going out?

What does AMID stand for?

Think about our prison systems. Many folks think the role of the prison system is to punish people who break the law, and that we should have more prisons to punish more people. But let's look at what happens to the average burglar. If (s)he is caught, (s)he will probably not go to trial for a year or two, and then is likely to get probation or a light sentence. If (s)he does go to prison, (s)he is unlikely to learn any useful skills and will meet other criminals who will probably not be good role models. Additionally, (s)he may not end up serving his or her entire sentence due to overcrowded conditions in prisons. Given what you know about operant learning principles, reinforcement, and punishment, critique the way our current prison system works and suggest some better ideas. Be sure to be specific about the principles that you have learned from our text.

The tendency to respond to a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus is called __________.

Neurofeedback, a newer type of biofeedback, involves trying to change __________.

The process by which experience results in a relatively permanent change in what one is capable of doing is called __________.

Which type of learning occurs when we observe other people act?

To avoid getting a headache, Amelia always lets her dog outside when it sits by the door and howls. This is an example of which type of punishment or reinforcement?

Though Charlotte tried in vain to reach a puzzle on the top shelf by standing on a chair, she simply could not reach it. Suddenly, she realized that by placing a thick catalog on the seat of the chair, she would be high enough to reach the puzzle. Charlotte's solution is best explained by which of the following?

The 5-year-old of two very busy parents has been throwing tantrums. Whenever the child goes off the deep end, one or both of his parents immediately come to his side and fuss over and cajole him. Nevertheless, his tantrums do not diminish; they even seem to increase. We may assume that his parents' fussing over him serves as a __________.

Kiara just told her family a really funny joke that she made up herself. In order to use a secondary reinforcer to encourage her to keep telling jokes, Kiara's dad might __________.

Why is money such a powerful secondary reinforcer? Why isn't it a primary reinforcer?

Josie has found that when she opens the cupboard door to get the cat food, the cats come running to the kitchen. Josie knows that this is classical conditioning and that the unconditioned stimulus is the __________.

Cognitive learning theories attempt to explain how learning occurs using __________.