Exam 3: Behaviorist Principles and Theories

Classify each of the following situations as involving either classical conditioning or operant conditioning. In each case, defend your answer by analyzing the situation within the context of the learning paradigm you have chosen. a. A father reminds his son James to be quiet at the dinner table. James stops talking, and his father smiles at him. b. Ralph's friend offers him an illegal drug. Ralph takes the drug and finds that it makes him feel euphoric. Ralph begins to buy the drug himself and takes it more and more frequently. c. Linda is a bright, academically capable girl. Once, when she was sick, she failed an important test. Now she is very anxious whenever she takes a test.

David is addicted to a drug that increases his blood sugar level, temporarily giving him more energy. David always takes this drug in the bathroom. He finds that he becomes tired when he enters the bathroom and also that he needs more and more of the drug to maintain the same high energy level. From the perspective of classical conditioning, which one of the following is the most likely explanation of David's increasing addiction to the drug?

Which one of the following statements best describes the view of early behaviorists about how learning can best be studied?

A ski instructor is teaching a class of beginning skiers how to do a snowplow turn. She first teaches her students to stand with the fronts of their skis together and the backs of their skis far apart. She then has her students bend their knees slightly and lean forward in this "snowplow" position. After the students can do these two things successfully, the instructor has them add more behaviors to the sequence: gliding across the side of a gentle slope in a snowplow, putting their body weight on the downhill ski, gradually turning downhill, and so on. The instructor praises her students each time they successfully add a new movement to the sequence. In behaviorist terminology, the procedure that the ski instructor is using can best be described as:

Ivan Pavlov conducted a series of studies that led him to propose his theory of classical conditioning. In these studies, Pavlov observed how a dog learned to:

A teacher claps his hands together loudly three times as a way of reminding his students that they need to talk more quietly during their free time at the end of the day. In behaviorist terminology, his strategy can best be described as:

Which one of the following responses is most likely to be learned through classical conditioning?

Which one of the following accurately describes the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment?

George has learned that if he pesters his father about using the family Cadillac enough times, his father will eventually break down and give George the keys to the Cadillac. George's "pestering" behavior is apparently being reinforced on a ___________ schedule.

Tammy is scolded for submitting a messy math homework paper, so she tries to do her math problems more neatly after that. The scolding Tammy received is an example of:

Distinguish among positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, Punishment I, and Punishment II. Give an example of each.

In each of the following situations, a person is learning through either reinforcement or punishment. Classify each situation as involving one of these four consequences: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, Punishment I, or Punishment II. Then explain why you chose the answer you did. a. Because Danielle fails her math class, she is taken off the school dance squad. b. Joe always does his homework assignments as soon as he gets them so he won't have to worry about them anymore. c. Lisa and Fran are giggling together in the back of the classroom. Their teacher scowls at them. They are embarrassed and shut up. d. A teacher finds that by yelling at her students when they get too rowdy, they will settle down and be quiet for a while. Focus on what is happening to the teacher.)

After being bitten by a neighbor's dog, Kathy is now afraid of the puppy her family has just adopted. Kathy's father gives Kathy a hot fudge sundae; then, while she is happily eating it, he brings the puppy about fifteen feet from where she is sitting. On each successive day, Kathy gets another ice cream treat, and her father brings the puppy a little closer than he did on the previous day. Eventually Kathy is able to pet and enjoy the new puppy. Kathy's father is using a procedure known as:

Which one of the following is the best example of punishment as behaviorists define it?

Which one of the following statements best describes research findings regarding the effectiveness of verbally reprimanding

Which one of the following best illustrates Skinner's concept of superstitious behavior?

John and Bill have both learned that when they whine and complain, their teacher will hurry over to see what's wrong. John's teacher gives him attention every time he complains. However, Bill's teacher gives him attention only on some of the occasions he complains. Both teachers eventually realize that they are reinforcing the boys for inappropriate behavior and so both stop attending to the boys when they whine and complain. From a behaviorist perspective, we can predict that:

Which one of the following is the major reason why assigning extra schoolwork is not an appropriate punishment for classroom misbehavior?

Six-year-old Jack has recently learned to appreciate the value of money, so his father assigns him some simple housekeeping chores to be performed throughout the week. He tells Jack that completion of these chores will earn him an allowance of one dollar every Saturday. Jack rarely completes his chores. From an operant conditioning perspective, which one of the following is most likely to be the reason why Jack is not doing his chores?

You are giving tennis lessons to a beginning tennis player. Describe how you would teach the proper tennis swing. Specify: a. A reasonable end result toward which you would work b. A reinforcer you might use c. When you would use continuous reinforcement d. When you would use intermittent reinforcement