Exam 3: Behaviorist Principles and Theories

Mr. McDonald wants his students to ask him for help on their geometry problems only after they have tried to solve the problems independently for at least five minutes. Mr. McDonald should reinforce students' help-seeking behavior on a ___________ schedule.

Last week Gretel was accidentally hurt in her physical education class when a much larger student ran into her and knocked her to the floor. Gretel is now afraid to go to physical education. Explain this situation in terms of classical conditioning, identifying the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR.

Which one of the following is the best example of a social reinforcer?

Behaviorist theories tend to share a number of common underlying assumptions. In five short paragraphs, describe five of these assumptions.

Nick is extremely anxious whenever he takes a test. From a classical conditioning perspective, a teacher can best reduce his anxiety by:

A teacher wants to encourage her students to work cooperatively with one another as they study classroom subject matter. If she were to use the concept of a setting event to encourage such cooperative behavior, she would:

Shelby rarely interacts with her peers. She is obviously quite lonely but apparently has no confidence in her ability to make friends. Using a behaviorist perspective, describe how you might help Shelby develop social skills through shaping. In your discussion, be sure to include: a. The specific behaviors) you would shape b. A specific reinforcer you might use, and why you make the choice you do c. The sequence of steps you might take as you shape the desired behavior

Explain the difference between continuous reinforcement and intermittent reinforcement. When is each most useful?

Feedback about one's performance is most likely to be effective when it:

Mr. Loosigian is worried about Jerri, a girl who is struggling in his seventh grade class. He thinks about several different reasons why she might be having so much difficulty with her schoolwork. Which one of the possible reasons that he considers is consistent with a behaviorist perspective of learning?

Which one of the following statements best reflects behaviorists' notion of tabula rasa "blank slate")?

Mandy has learned that whenever her father comes home drunk, he is likely to yell at her, so she usually goes to her friend's house before he has the chance. In this situation, the father's coming home drunk is:

Nadia is an only child who lives on a ranch that is located many miles from the homes of other children. Although she enjoys being with her peers at school, she is often physically aggressive toward them. School personnel have made many small attempts to curb Nadia's aggression for example, they have scolded her, kept her in from recess, and put her in a time-out situation) but always without success. They are now thinking about taking more drastic measures. According to the textbook, which one of the following is most likely to be effective?

Sharon has learned that her language arts teacher answers her questions willingly but that her biology teacher discourages questions. Sharon therefore asks questions in language arts but not in biology. In behaviorist terminology, Sharon is:

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are two learning paradigms within the behaviorist tradition. A major difference between these two paradigms is that:

Which one of the following is an example of negative reinforcement?

Three of the following statements reflect contemporary perspectives of instrumental conditioning and reinforcement. Which one does not?

Gina became ill after eating Turkey on Thanksgiving and was unable to look at Turkey without feeling ill for two months. However, during that two-month period Gina was able to look at chicken without feeling ill. Gina's behavior when presented with chicken is explained by:

Which one of the following statements best describes behaviorists' two-step theory of avoidance learning?

Jimmy misbehaved in class and his teacher punished him by forcing him to skip recess. Withholding recess is generally an ineffective form of punishment because: