Exam 6: A: Learning

Dr. Baptista is attempting to train both birds and rodents to fear a clicking sound by pairing the click with presentation of shock. The birds respond with fear to the clicking sound very early in the experiment, but the rodents take a long time to learn. Dr. Baptista notes that the rodents' mating calls sound very much like the clicking noises used in the experiment. What would explain the rodents' slow learning in this study?

Brenda has learned to take an over-the-counter medication 30 minutes before she eats a spicy meal. When she does this she is able to prevent the heartburn and indigestion that she would experience otherwise. What does this example illustrate?

What are mirror neurons?

Darrel was dancing with his new girlfriend. When the band played "Love Song", his girlfriend gave him a long passionate kiss. Now Darrel finds that every time he hears "Love Song" on the radio, he becomes mildly excited. What is the kiss, in this example?

What is the correlation between the amount of exposure to violent TV and later aggression, according to the Featured Study on the long-term effects of watching violence on TV?

Cody developed a severe fear of flying when he was piloting a small plane through some severe turbulence. He has been seeing a therapist, and it appears that his fear response has been successfully extinguished. The therapist used a flight simulator to help Cody practise his piloting skills in a safe setting. However, the first time Cody stepped back into a real plane, his fear returned. What phenomenon does this illustrate?

Anthony classically conditioned his cat to purr whenever the phone rang. One day, the phone rang for nearly two hours straight when Anthony wasn't home, and the cat's conditioned purring response underwent extinction. Today, the response has spontaneously recovered, but what should Anthony expect if the conditioned purring response were to undergo extinction again?

Design a self-modification program to improve your study habits.