Exam 6: Operant Conditioning Introduction

To determine if operant conditioning is involved, the most critical question to ask is whether the behavior is mostly a function of

Explain why operant behaviors are said to be emitted and why they are defined as a class of responses.

In Skinner's anecdote about roommates who instilled an appreciation of art in a previously non-artistic person, which of the following techniques did the roommates use?

Reinforcers are _____ the kinds of events that we consider pleasant.

Research has shown that students who have been reinforced for solving complex math problems will subsequently

A(n) _____ reinforcer is an event that has become a reinforcer because it is associated with some other reinforcer.

The three components of the operant conditioning process include

Money and praise are common examples of _________ reinforcers.

What is a generalized reinforcer? What are two examples of such reinforcers?

Melissa stayed out past her curfew and subsequently lost car privileges for a week. As a result, she never again stayed out past her curfew. This example best illustrates the process of

For a professional athlete, the noise that a cheering crowd makes is best described as a(n)

When combined with the term "reinforcement" or "punishment," the word "positive" means

A pigeon pecks a response key and receives food. As a result, the probability of key-pecking increases. This is an example of

State Thorndike's law of effect. What is operant conditioning (as defined by Skinner) and how does this definition differ from Thorndike's law of effect?

Each time a student cleans his room, he is hugged by his mother. As a result, he no longer cleans his room. This is an example of a type of contingency known as _________.

The term _____ refers to the removal of a stimulus following a response, which then leads to an increase in the future strength of that response.

Over time, Jim gradually becomes more and more efficient at cleaning his apartment. This improvement is most likely a result of

Being paid to study is a(n) _____ reinforcer for studying.

If a mother kisses her child whenever he breaks a dish and, as a result, he breaks fewer dishes in the future, the kissing would, by definition, be a

Sacha enjoys hard work and often volunteers for projects that are quite demanding. According to the _________ theory, it is likely that, for Sacha, the act of expending a lot of effort has often been _________.