Exam 7: Learning

How does one establish a conditioned reinforcer?

Andrew argues that a cat can be taught to press a lever in order to get any possible incentive or to avoid any possible punishment. Apparently, Andrew believes in the concept of __________.

__________ involves a type of learning in which postsynaptic neurons become increasingly sensitive with repeated stimulation.

A person is given an insulin injection each day with a similar-looking syringe. After a few injections, the mere sight of the syringe results in a rise in blood sugar. Which of the following is the best example of a procedure that could follow the original conditioning procedure (just described) and thus result in second-order conditioning?

Sarah is trying to study, but the loud noise from her neighbor's party distracts her. However, after some time, Sarah finds that she can concentrate on her work, even though the noise is as loud as it ever was. What process has likely occurred?

Rats A and B receive shocks in a Skinner box. Rat A can terminate the shock by pressing a bar. For rat B, there is no response that leads to shock termination. The experimenter then tries to teach both rats another similar shock-avoidance task. What result would one expect?

According to Skinner, emitted behaviors are called __________.

You check your cell phone repeatedly for a message from someone you're interested in dating. It's impossible to know in advance how many times you need to check before the message arrives (assuming it even does!), therefore your checking behavior is maintained according to a __________.

What anatomical feature does a Clark's nutcracker have that is not shared by other birds that relates to its special ability for remembering geographical locations?

What are the conclusions of the six major professional psychological societies regarding the impact of violent television on children?

Generally, how long does it take a rat to learn to avoid a food that made it ill?

The normal defense reaction of species XYZ involves freezing in the face of danger. For these animals, according to the principle of belongingness, which of the following responses would be easiest to learn?

How would an empiricist explain how you learned that dogs are both mammals and animals, that is, both animals belong in many categories?

Which response would show that a pigeon understands the principle of "sameness" within a particular category?

A dog is conditioned so that it secretes 10 drops of saliva to a 1,000 hertz tone. Knowing what you do about the phenomenon of generalization, hypothetically, how many drops of saliva should you expect if you then present the dog with a tone of 750 hertz and 500 hertz respectively?

How do evolutionary psychologists explain the existence of general laws of learning common to many species of animals?

How is a conditioned emotional response (CER) acquired?

A dad takes his child out to learn to ride a bike. At first, the dad supports the child on the bike as the child simply steers. He then has the child peddle and steer. Gradually, the dad begins to let go of the bike as the child steers and peddles independently. The dad is using a procedure called __________.

Elicited is to emitted as __________ is to __________.

Why is the Aplysia so useful for investigating the basic neural mechanisms of learning?