Exam 6: Learning

Miranda is learning how to play tennis.She has a unique way of hitting a backhand shot,but after a lesson with a professional instructor,Miranda changes her backhand technique because the technique she saw her instructor use is more efficient.Miranda has learned to improve her tennis due to _______.

Rayvonte,a recent college graduate,is impressed when his cousin puts his résumé on their university's job board and then receives many job interviews.Rayvonte decides to post his résumé in hopes of finding his first professional job.He most likely posted his résumé on the job board as a result of _______.

Michael has an introductory psychology assignment that requires him to observe and list any behaviors of the people in his dorm that indicate learning.Which of the following should be included on Michael's list?

Genevieve wants her students to learn how to read their textbooks to answer questions about the material.She has her students do an ungraded in-class activity where they read sections of the book and answer questions about what they read on an activity sheet.A few weeks later,Genevieve assigns an activity sheet to go with her students' reading,but this time they receive a grade for finding the answers in the text.If the students do a good job and earn high grades on their answers,then their performance is most likely a result of _______.

Tina believes in John Locke's idea of tabula rasa.When Tina's baby is born,she expects the child will most likely _______.

Mason can recite the first 100 digits of the number pi.He spent many hours studying to learn the exact order of the numbers,which has resulted in strengthened synaptic connections in his brain.Mason's ability to learn the numbers is most likely a result of _______.

Mario believes that his son is learning to be aggressive because he plays violent video games.In what way could observational learning explain the connection Mario sees between media and his son's behavior?

Charlie is addicted to heroin and although he would like to quit,he finds that he just cannot. a) How is Charlie's addiction an example of "learning"? b) Using what you know about associative learning, provide an explanation for why Charlie continues to use heroin. c) Give one example of how learning by watching others may have influenced Charlie's behavior.

In Pavlov's research,dogs learned that the sound of a metronome predicted the arrival of food,so the dogs salivated at the sound of the metronome.In this research,classical conditioning occurred in part because the _______ elicited a(n)_______.

A month ago,Jenny was pulled over for speeding,and because it was her third ticket this year,her license was suspended.Jenny just received her license back and vows never to speed again.In this situation,having her license suspended has served as _______.

A father takes his young daughter to the park.The girl grabs a red flower and is stung by a bee.The next day,the girl's grandmother brings her a bouquet of red flowers.When the girl sees the flowers,she becomes afraid and runs away.In this example,the conditioned stimulus is the _______.

Danielle is a mean preschool teacher and wants to teach her students to fear the school principal,who comes to check on their classroom at the same time every day.She attempts to use classical conditioning by turning off the classroom lights (US)immediately before the principal comes in (NS).The resulting darkness causes the children to be naturally fearful (UR).After a few weeks of trying this,Danielle is disappointed that the children do not seem to be developing a fear of the principal. a) Using your knowledge of the four steps of classical conditioning, explain why Danielle has not been able to create a fear response in her students. Be sure to include the US, UR, CS, and CR in your answer. b) How could Danielle make the children fear the principal? Give a specific example. c) Assuming that Danielle is able to use classical conditioning correctly, explain one other factor that might influence how well the children learn this association.

Ben's father,Sean,is very authoritative.He often puts Ben in a time-out for fighting with his sister,takes away his favorite toy when he stays up past his bedtime,and restricts his daily TV time if he does not get good grades.Ben's mother,Tanya,is friendly and supportive.She frequently takes Ben for ice cream when he does well on his homework assignments,praises him when he comes home from tennis practice,and gives him a weekly allowance if he completes his chores. a) Write a definition of operant conditioning and explain how each of Ben's parents is using this type of conditioning in different ways to influence his behavior. b) Is each of Ben's parents using reinforcement or punishment? Be specific in explaining your answer. How do you know which one they're using? c) Give one example of how Sean could use the Premack principle to get Ben to go to bed on time.

Every day after class,Jerome smells delicious pizza from Steel's Pizza House on his walk home and his mouth starts to water.One day,Jerome is riding the bus home from class and sees the Steel's Pizza House sign,and even this makes his mouth start to water.Jerome has most likely experienced all of the following EXCEPT _______.

After seeing her brother Lars play hopscotch several times,Britta tries to play the game herself. a) Define mirror neurons and describe how they are active (or inactive) while Britta is observing Lars or playing hopscotch herself. b) Explain whether mirror neurons actually cause us to imitate someone else's behavior. What other functions do mirror neurons serve?

Tammy is visiting the eye doctor.During her exam,a buzzer rings and a puff of air is blown into her eye,which makes her blink.This happens several times.Then Tammy blinks when she hears the buzzer because she expects that a puff of air will be blown into her eye.In this example,Tammy is showing _______ learning.

Whenever baby Colin cries,his mother picks him up.This stops Colin from crying.In turn,this makes Colin's mother pick him up more often.In this example,his mother picking him up serves as a _______ reinforcer for Colin.Colin stopping crying is a _______ reinforcer for the mother.

Cheryl hears a new song on the radio every day during the week on her commute to and from work.Surprisingly,when the song comes on at a party on Saturday night,she knows most of the words without trying. a) Describe the three ways that we use cognition to learn without reinforcement. b) Provide an explanation for Cheryl's behavior using a type of cognitive learning without reinforcement.

Sasha finds it funny that when she makes a silly face,her infant daughter Penelope tries to make the same silly face.As a psychologist who studies learning,Sasha knows that when Penelope observes Sasha's face,Penelope's _______ is (are)active.

Your psychology instructor is preparing her lecture on learning and wants to include an analogy about memes.She starts by writing "Memes are to genes as ..." but cannot figure out how to finish the sentence.Which of the following would best complete her thought?