Exam 5: Learning

Psychologists have defined learning as

Explain the various types of intermittent schedules of reinforcement and how rates of responding differ for the different schedules.

When administering punishment, it is not useful for the punishment to be

Lenny can't reach the bathroom shelf where his father keeps the electric toothbrush, but he continues trying, day after day. After seeing his brother use a stool to open the kitchen cupboards, Lenny pushes the stool into the bathroom and uses it to finally get the toothbrush. How would Lenny's behavior be classified by learning theorists?

Brandon is trying to get out of his crib. He tries sticking his legs through the bars, hitting the bars with his arms, and butting them with his head. He realizes that he is getting nowhere. Then suddenly Brandon tries climbing over the top of the bars, and he breaks free. This illustrates

Compare and contrast observational learning and vicarious conditioning.

Gino is allergic to peanuts, and he gets very nauseated when he eats them. While out at a candy store one day, Gino has a sample of fudge that is offered before realizing that it has peanuts in it. As a result, he gets very sick. The next time Gino is in a candy store, he gets terribly nauseated just at the sight of the fudge counter. In this example, the conditioned response is

Baby Abbey was playing with her favorite toy rattle when her mom dropped an armful of pots and pans behind her. The loud noise made Baby Abbey startle and cry. Subsequently, on seeing her rattle, she cries. However, mom continues to give Baby Abbey her favorite rattle and doesn't drop any more pots and pans. We would expect that Baby Abbey's crying when seeing the rattle would now

Sniffy the rat has been taught to press a bar in a cage to receive food. The behavior disappeared, though, when Sniffy stopped getting food following bar-pressing. Several days later, Sniffy was put in the cage again, and he immediately began to press the bar. The reappearance of this response is called

Ta'Nisha, a regular smoker, is trying to quit. When she goes to bars or outdoor cafes where others are smoking, she finds the craving for a cigarette too strong to resist. Simply by avoiding bars and cafes that allow smoking, Ta'Nisha has found it easier to quit smoking completely. This example uses principles of

Orlando knows that when he is around his guy friends, he can use whatever language he wants, and he tends to use a lot of profanity. When he is around his parents, however, he makes sure to watch his mouth and he never swears. Orlando's knowledge that certain stimuli should be associated with certain actions means that his tendency to curse has been

Andre is participating in a psychology study. He is sitting alone in a room, and every few seconds a bright light flashes in front of him. When the light flashes, he blinks. After a while, a phone rings right before the flash of light. Soon, Andre blinks when the phone rings. In this example, the conditioned stimulus is the

Children are often aware of which conditions are most favorable when asking a parent for an advance on their allowance. Psychologists call such conditions

After Nadia spills water all over her painting, her first-grade art teacher gives her some M&Ms to make her feel better. The next time art class meets, Nadia promptly and purposefully spills water. The M&Ms acted as

Pamela and Martin are practicing a complicated dance to be filmed for a soft-drink commercial, but are having trouble with one section. Which of the following would be the best way for them to improve their learning of the dance? They should practice the entire dance

A natural tendency to link certain stimuli with other stimuli (or responses)is called ________.

Stephanie is studying her vocabulary words for German class. Each time she reads the German word and thinks of the English equivalent, she finds it easier to recall the meaning. Stephanie's experience is best explained by the role of

To learn to look both ways before crossing the street, children merely need to hear about the consequences of getting hit by a car (instead of having to experience it themselves). This is an example of

Kong is scared to death of bananas and banana peels. However, he watches others eat bananas and receive a rewarding piece of candy every time they throw their banana peel away. Eventually, Kong began to eat bananas and throw the peels away. Kong learned through

It has been rumored that campus parking enforcement officers receive a $10 bonus for every twenty tickets they write. An unnamed campus parking administrator has remarked off the record, "This __________ schedule of reinforcement keeps our officers diligent and busy."