Deck 7: Learning and Adaptation: the Role of Experience

Question 1

A researcher argues that because of evolution,animals are biologically prepared to respond in particular ways and thus are anything but "blank slates." This person's perspective is most closely associated with the following perspectives:

A)behaviourism
B)ethology
C)cognitive-behaviourism
D)classical conditioning

Answer 1

ethology

Question 2

The field of ethology attempts to study animal behaviour in ______________ settings.

A)conditioned
B)applied
C)controlled laboratory
D)naturalistic

Answer 2

naturalistic

Question 3

Newborn herring gulls immediately peck on the red mark of the mother's bill,which triggers the regurgitation of food so that the young hatchlings can eat.This behaviour increases the likelihood of survival,therefore it is deemed to have _______________ .

A)low spontaneous significance
B)high adaptive significance
C)low instinctual drift
D)high discrimination

Answer 3

high adaptive significance

Question 4

Psychologists who focus on how organisms learn and assume that there are general laws of learning that apply to virtually all organisms are called _____________________.

A)ethologists
B)behaviourists
C)neurobiologists
D)cognitivists

Question 5

A factor common to both behaviourists and ethologists in their study of learning is that:

A)they both did most of their research with nonhuman species.
B)they both did most of their research with humans.
C)they conducted most of their research in controlled laboratory settings.
D)they conducted most of their research in naturalistic settings.

Question 6

A decreasing response to a repeated stimulus is called _______________.

A)extinction
B)latent learning
C)habituation
D)shaping

Question 7

The process of species adaptation refers to how:

A)genetically based features directly determine or modify the genes of an organism.
B)the laws of learning directly determine or modify the genes of a species.
C)genetically based features that enhance an organism's ability to survive are passed to the next generation.
D)the laws of learning and the past and present environments determine the behaviour of organisms.

Question 8

Interactions with immediate and past environments that occur through the laws of learning are called:

A)adaptive significance
B)species adaptation
C)personal adaptation
D)adaptive preparedness

Question 9

The term "adaptive significance" specifically refers to how a particular behaviour can affect _______________.

A)the status of an organism within a group
B)the social interactions of an organism
C)an organism's chance for survival
D)evolutionary development

Question 10

The term "personal adaptation" is concerned with how:

A)the laws of learning and the environment shape the behaviour of organisms.
B)learning directly modifies the genes of a species.
C)adaptive significance affects species adaptation.
D)evolutionary factors operate through the environment to shape the biology of a species.

Question 11

After becoming familiar with her local environment,a coyote learns to go to a specific stream for water when she is thirsty.She also tends to go to a particular shady area when the temperature is hot.These behaviours are best considered examples of:

A)stimulus generalization
B)personal adaptation
C)species adaptation
D)avoidance conditioning

Question 12

The notion of tabula rasa,or blank tablet upon which learning experiences were ascribed,is most closely associated with which of the following schools of psychology?

A)ethology
B)cognitive-behaviourism
C)behaviourism
D)constructivism

Question 13

Learning NOT to respond to uneventful familiar stimuli so that the organism can conserve energy and attend to more important stimuli is an example of:

A)a fixed action pattern.
B)generalization.
C)habituation.
D)operant generalization.

Question 14

Which of the following statements about fear conditioning is ?
A.It is associated with the development of schizophrenia.
B.It is associated with an over reactive right amygdala.
C.It is considered to be a conditioned emotional response.
D.It leads to activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

Question 15

Ethologists refer to an unlearned response that is triggered by a simple stimulus as a(n):

A)fixed action pattern
B)variable action pattern
C)instinctual pattern
D)conditioned response pattern

Question 16

A particular species of tree squirrel has developed a fur colouring that allows it to blend in more effectively in its natural environment.As a result,these squirrels are more difficult to spot in the trees,are less likely to become prey for local predators,and are thus more likely to survive and reproduce.This example best demonstrates the process of:

A)classical conditioning
B)personal adaptation
C)operant conditioning
D)species adaptation

Question 17

Which of the following provides the best definition of habituation?

A)Habituation is a continuous response to a discriminative stimulus.
B)Habituation is a decrease in the strength of response to a repeated stimulus.
C)Habituation is an increase in the strength of response to a changing stimulus.
D)Habituation is an extinction of response to an increasing stimulus.

Question 18

Personal adaptation is most concerned with how the laws of learning influence behaviour,while species adaptation focuses more on how ________________ contribute to behaviour.

A)evolutionary factors
B)immediate environments
C)past environments
D)environmental factors

Question 19

The influence of a behaviour on an organism's chances for survival and reproduction in its natural environment is called the concept of _______________.

A)operant conditioning
B)heritability
C)survival value
D)adaptive significance

Question 20

Historically,behaviourists tended to study behaviour in highly controlled environments,while ethologists typically chose to conduct their research in ___________ settings.

A)laboratory
B)artifical
C)naturalistic
D)conditioned

Question 21

This form of learning has strong adaptive significance because if we responded continuously to every stimuli in the environment,we would quickly become fatigued and overwhelmed.This form of learning is called:

A)habituation
B)one-trial learning
C)extinction
D)negative reinforcement

Question 22

Under which of the following conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus pairing conditions does learning usually occur most quickly?

A)forward trace pairing
B)forward short-delay pairing
C)simultaneous pairing
D)backward pairing

Question 23

Ahmen adopts a dog from the local animal shelter.When Ahmen's mother comes home that day,she runs to the dog to pet her,but the dog cowers and puts her tail between her legs.The dog continues to exhibit this response whenever Ahmen's mother approaches her.Eventually,after several weeks,the dog cowers less until finally,Ahmen's mother is able to pet the dog.What the dog has learned is that Ahmen's mother will not harm her; therefore,her response decreases with time.This is an example of:

A)reward and punishment
B)extinction
C)tabula rosa
D)habituation

Question 24

A researcher in a classical conditioning experiment is attempting to condition a startle response to a green light.To do this,she illuminates the light at the same time that she plays a very loud noise.This experiment is utilizing what is called simultaneous pairing of the:

A)unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimulus.
B)unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response.
C)unconditioned response and conditioned stimulus.
D)unconditioned response and conditioned response.

Question 25

You are conducting an experiment in which you are trying to manipulate the immune response of rats by using the principles of classical conditioning.First for several days of an experiment,you give rats artificially sweetened water with an immune system-enhancing drug in it.You later remove the drug and notice that the immune systems of rats are boosted when they consume the sweetened water.In your experiment,what is the conditioned stimulus (CS)?

A)the sweetened water
B)the drug
C)the enhanced immune system functioning in response to the drug
D)the enhanced immune system functioning in response to the sweetened water

Question 26

Imagine that you wish to condition a dog to salivate in response to particular song that you play on your CD player.Prior to beginning the learning trials,the song would be considered a(n)_________ stimulus

A)neutral
B)unconditioned
C)conditioned
D)discriminative

Question 27

Karen's boyfriend gets very excited whenever he smells pizza as he walks by the pizza place where she works because whether Karen is working then or not,he still associates the place with Karen.Which of the following correctly identify the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus?

A)unconditioned stimulus = Karen; conditioned stimulus = pizza place
B)unconditioned stimulus = pizza place; conditioned stimulus = Karen
C)unconditioned stimulus = the pizza smell; conditioned stimulus = Karen
D)unconditioned stimulus = Karen; conditioned stimulus = excitement

Question 28

Habituation has strong adaptive significance because it allows organisms to learn not to respond to _____________ stimuli.

A)changing
B)uneventful and familiar
C)novel
D)discriminative

Question 29

In a research study,a dog learned to salivate in response to a tone presented alone.In this case,the salivation would technically be considered a(n):

A)unconditioned stimulus
B)conditioned stimulus
C)unconditioned response
D)conditioned response

Question 30

You have just settled down to begin studying for your exam in this course when your roommate decides to turn on some music.At first,the music distracts you from your studying,but after a short time,the music no longer bothers you even though it continues to play.This example most clearly demonstrates the process of:

A)extinction.
B)negative reinforcement.
C)classical conditioning.
D)habituation.

Question 31

Shannon is used to eating dinner every night about 7:00 pm,but now that she is away at college she eats earlier because the dining hall is open from 4-6pm every night for dinner.Shannon eats dinner without feeling hungry for several weeks.Then one day while walking to the dining hall,Shannon starts feeling very hungry.Those first several weeks of eating early are considered the _________________ phase of her conditioned response.

A)persistence
B)acquisition
C)shaping
D)extinction

Question 32

All of the following are circumstances under which conditioned responses are typically acquired more rapidly EXCEPT:

A)when the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are paired multiple times.
B)when the UCS is more intense.
C)when the conditioned stimulus is presented after the unconditioned stimulus.
D)when the UCS is aversive.

Question 33

Usually,learning through classical conditioning occurs more quickly with:

A)forward trace pairing of the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus.
B)simultaneous pairing of the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus.
C)forward trace pairing of the conditioned stimulus and conditioned response.
D)simultaneous pairing of the conditioned stimulus and conditioned response.

Question 34

A child probably only needs to burn her hand on a hot stove once to learn to avoid doing this in the future.Psychologists involved in classical conditioning would most likely consider this an example of:

A)extinction.
B)negative reinforcement.
C)punishment.
D)one-trial learning.

Question 35

A learning process in which the organism learns to associate two stimuli such that a previously neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response is called:

A)operant conditioning
B)modelling
C)classical conditioning
D)shaping

Question 36

Learning is typically slowest under which of the following conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus pairings.

A)forward short-delay pairing
B)simultaneous pairing
C)forward trace pairing
D)backward pairing

Question 37

You are conducting an experiment in which you are trying to manipulate the immune response of rats by using the principles of classical conditioning.First,for several days of an experiment,you give rats artificially sweetened water with an immune system-enhancing drug in it.You later remove the drug and notice that the immune systems of rats are boosted when they consume the sweetened water.In your experiment,what is the unconditioned response (UCR)?

A)the sweetened water
B)the drug
C)the enhanced immune system functioning in response to the drug
D)the enhanced immune system functioning in response to the sweetened water

Question 38

Pavlov determined that a tone triggered salivation more quickly when the size of the _________ was more intense or greater.

A)unconditioned response
B)unconditioned stimulus
C)conditioned response
D)conditioned stimulus

Question 39

Shannon is absorbed in the latest novel and is surprised when she looks at the clock and sees that it is dinnertime.Normally,Shannon starts feeling hungry about 5:30 pm every night but now it is 6:00 pm and her stomach just started to rumble.On her way to the dining hall,Shannon starts feeling very hungry.In Shannon's case,the unconditioned stimulus is:

A)The walk to the dining hall
B)The time on her clock
C)The novel she was reading
D)The food at the dining hall

Question 40

When Pavlov was conditioning his dogs to salivate in response to a tone,he first paired the tone with the presentation of food until the tone alone could induce salivation.In his experiments,which of the following was considered to be the unconditioned stimulus?

A)salivation in response to the food
B)the food
C)salivation in response to the tone
D)the tone

Question 41

Stuart is afraid of public speaking,but only when he has to make speeches on the weekend.He is a professor and has no trouble speaking in front of large groups of students,and he has made effective presentations at conferences,as long as he presents on a weekday.The specificity of Stuart's fear mostly clearly demonstrates the process of:

A)negative reinforcement.
B)avoidance conditioning.
C)stimulus generalization.
D)discrimination.

Question 42

In classical conditioning,discrimination refers to how:

A)a conditioned response can be triggered by many different stimuli.
B)a conditioned response is triggered by one stimulus but not by others.
C)a conditioned response can fade when a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus.
D)a unconditioned stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus.

Question 43

Higher-order conditioning occurs when:

A)a conditioned stimulus becomes a neutral stimulus after being paired with an established conditioned stimulus.
B)a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus after being paired with an established conditioned stimulus.
C)a conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus.
D)a neutral response becomes a conditioned response after being paired with an established conditioned response.

Question 44

A researcher in a classical conditioning experiment first conditions a dog to salivate in response to the presentation of a red circle.After this response has been established,she presents a light immediately before she displays the red circle and after several trials,the light comes to trigger the salivation response.This example best demonstrates the process of:

A)discrimination.
B)stimulus generalization.
C)backward pairing of the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus
D)higher-order conditioning.

Question 45

conducted experiments with an 11-month-old baby named Albert to demonstrate how:

A)a neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus by being paired with an established conditioned stimulus.
B)the principles of classical conditioning can explain and can be used to create phobias.
C)the process of extinction is observable even in infants.
D)the key factor in classical conditioning is the perception of an association between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 46

Susan is staying with some friends who have a dog.Each night,when she has turned off the TV and is heading for bed,she gives the dog a treat.Soon the dog gets very excited whenever Susan turns of the TV at night because he has learned what this signal means.When Susan eventually leaves her friends' house,the dog continues to get excited when the owners turn off the TV,but since the owners don't give the dog a treat at this time,the dog's behaviour soon returns to normal.The change in the dog's behaviour after Susan's departure best illustrates the concept of:

A)habituation.
B)response cost.
C)extinction.
D)punishment.

Question 47

Emily developed a phobia of snakes after a serious accident.According to classical conditioning,snakes would be considered an example of a:

A)conditioned stimulus.
B)unconditioned stimulus.
C)conditioned response.
D)neutral stimulus.

Question 48

A child is bitten by a German Shepherd when he is young.When he grows up,the child develops a fear of not just German Shepherds,but of all dogs and he refuses to go near them.The fact that this person now avoids all dogs illustrates the process of:

A)punishment.
B)avoidance learning.
C)stimulus generalization.
D)negative reinforcement.

Question 49

The process in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus after being paired with an already-established conditioned stimulus is called:

A)latent learning
B)extinction
C)higher-order conditioning
D)shaping

Question 50

The key factor in determining whether extinction will occur or not is:

A)the passage of time after a conditioned stimulus has been reinforced .
B)whether punishment has been used during the learning trials or not.
C)the use of a conditioned stimulus that lends itself readily to habituation.
D)repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 51

A smart political candidate becomes friends with a very popular professional baseball player because she hopes that this will improve her popularity with the voters.With regard to classical conditioning principles,the positive emotional reactions already evoked by the professional baseball player would be viewed as a(n):

A)conditioned response.
B)neutral stimulus.
C)unconditioned stimulus.
D)well-established conditioned stimulus.

Question 52

Stimulus generalization refers to the process where stimuli that are similar to the initial ______________ also elicit a conditioned response.

A)conditioned stimulus
B)unconditioned stimulus
C)conditioned response
D)unconditioned response

Question 53

A smart political candidate becomes friends with a very popular professional baseball player because she hopes that this will improve her popularity with the voters.With regard to classical conditioning principles,the professional baseball player would be viewed as a(n):

A)neutral stimulus.
B)well-established conditioned stimulus.
C)conditioned response.
D)unconditioned response.

Question 54

In a classical conditioning experiment that is utilizing backward pairing,the conditioned stimulus is presented after the _____________.

A)conditioned response
B)unconditioned stimulus
C)unconditioned response
D)forward trace pairing

Question 55

During the process of extinction,it is not uncommon for a conditioned response to recur if,after a period of time has passed,the conditioned stimulus is presented again.This is known as:

A)secondary recovery.
B)spontaneous recovery.
C)automatic recovery.
D)natural recovery.

Question 56

Pavlov observed that when he conditioned dogs to salivate to a particular tone,not only would they salivate to this tone but also to other similar tones.This phenomenon is known as:

A)negative reinforcement.
B)stimulus discrimination.
C)shaping.
D)stimulus generalization.

Question 57

If a conditioned stimulus has high stimulus generalization,then it will be triggered by several different stimuli,while if it has high discrimination,it will occur in response to ____________.

A)a single stimulus
B)a neutral stimulus
C)several different stimuli
D)a discriminative stimulus

Question 58

When the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus,the conditioned response will gradually weaken in a process called:

A)negative reinforcement.
B)habituation.
C)discrimination.
D)extinction.

Question 59

conducted experiments with an 11-month-old baby named Albert.Knowing that Albert was afraid of loud noises,they conditioned him to fear a white rat by pairing the presentation of the rat with a loud noise.Though he was initially unafraid of the rat,after several trials,he would cry and become fearful when shown the rat.In this instance,the rat represented the:

A)unconditioned stimulus.
B)unconditioned response.
C)conditioned stimulus.
D)conditioned response.

Question 60

In classical conditioning experiments,learning is typically fastest when the unconditioned stimulus is intense and the time interval between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus is _________.

A)very delayed
B)long
C)short
D)no amount of time

Question 61

The goal of exposure therapies is to expose a phobic person to the feared stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus,so that the process of ___________ can occur.

A)habituation
B)discrimination
C)generalization
D)extinction

Question 62

Research applying the principles of classical conditioning to boost or suppress the immune system has found that:

A)only the immune systems of animals can be effectively manipulated by these techniques.
B)the functioning of the immune system can only be suppressed and not boosted.
C)these principles must be used in combination with operant conditioning to be effective.
D)the immune systems of both animals and humans can be boosted or suppressed.

Question 63

A patient starts chemotherapy and becomes ill each time after he receives it.After a few weeks of treatment,he develops anticipatory nausea at the mere sight of the waiting room at the hospital.In this instance,the unconditioned response would be considered the ___________________..

A)chemotherapy
B)waiting room
C)nausea induced by the chemotherapy
D)nausea induced by the waiting room

Question 64

A man becomes moderately aroused whenever his wife wears a particular red outfit.In terms of classical conditioning principles,the red outfit represents a(n)___________ that has become a(n)__________.

A)conditioned stimulus; unconditioned stimulus
B)previously neutral stimulus; conditioned stimulus
C)unconditioned stimulus; conditioned stimulus
D)unconditioned response; conditioned response

Question 65

conditioned an 11-month-old baby named Albert to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud noise.Albert already feared the loud noise.After the conditioning had taken place,the researchers also found that Albert was afraid of furry white and grey objects,such as a rabbit and a Santa Claus mask.The fact that Albert was afraid of these additional items demonstrated that:

A)stimulus generalization had occurred.
B)discrimination had occurred.
C)extinction had occurred.
D)higher-order conditioning had occurred.

Question 66

There was a case of an 11-year-old girl who was suffering from a disease in which her own immune system attacked her body.To treat her,researchers first paired cod liver oil with an immune-suppressant drug.Later,when she only received pure cod liver oil (without the drug),her immune system still showed the intended impairment.In this instance,the conditioned stimulus would be the:

A)immune system impairment triggered by the cod liver oil.
B)immune system impairment triggered by the drug.
C)cod liver oil.
D)immune-suppressant drug.

Question 67

In order to cure himself of smoking,a man regularly places his package of cigarettes next to a particularly disturbing picture of two lungs that are black from a lifetime of smoking.After a week of this,the man can't pick up his cigarettes without thinking of this intense image,and as a result he smokes less.In this example,since the picture naturally inspires negative feelings for the man,the picture would be considered a(n):

A)unconditioned stimulus.
B)conditioned stimulus.
C)unconditioned response.
D)conditioned response.

Question 68

Research on aversion therapy has yielded mixed results since the changes produced are often:

A)long term and generalizable.
B)long term and evoke insight.
C)short term,yet return after a period of time.
D)short term and extinguish over time.

Question 69

Edward Thorndike proposed that a response that was followed by a satisfying consequence was more likely to occur.This was termed as Thorndike's law of____________.

A)instrumental learning
B)generalization
C)aversive conditioning
D)effect

Question 70

Edward Thorndike assumed that animals were able to escape his puzzle box because:

A)they eventually gained insight into how to solve the problem.
B)they eventually were able to discriminate the conditioned stimulus sufficiently.
C)they used trial-and-error and slowly eliminated ineffective responses.
D)the response costs for ineffective action eventually became too high.

Question 71

A patient starts chemotherapy and becomes ill each time after he receives it.After a few weeks of treatment,he develops anticipatory nausea at the mere sight of the waiting room at the hospital.In this instance,the unconditioned stimulus would be considered the __________________.

A)chemotherapy
B)waiting room
C)nausea induced by the chemotherapy
D)nausea induced by the waiting room

Question 72

Ben nearly drowned as a child and has since developed a deep fear of not only swimming,but all water in general.When Ben seeks help from Dr.Brown,the first thing Dr.Brown does is take Ben to a swimming pool and force him to get into the water.Dr.Brown is using:

A)a flooding approach in therapy
B)systematic desensitization therapy
C)discrimination therapy
D)a cognitive therapy

Question 73

In a study designed to improve immune system functioning of rats,a researcher pairs a drug that strengthens the immune system with sweet water.After several trials,the drug is removed,but when the rats consume only the sweetened water,their immune system functioning improves.This example demonstrates a potentially important application of:

A)the use of negative reinforcement.
B)the principles of classical conditioning.
C)the principles of operant conditioning.
D)evidence of stimulus generalization.

Question 74

In the anticipatory nausea and vomiting response that can occur with patients receiving cancer treatment,initially neutral stimuli,such as needles,the hospital,or the treatment room,become _______ that trigger sickness.

A)conditioned responses
B)conditioned stimuli
C)unconditioned responses
D)unconditioned stimuli

Question 75

Some chemotherapy and radiation therapy patients can become sick minutes or hours before they receive their treatments.This is referred to as ___________________.

A)A fixed action response
B)Preparedness
C)Anticipatory nausea and vomiting
D)Negative reinforcement

Question 76

A researcher conducted an experiment with rats in which she paired the administration of a drug that boosted the immune system with sweet water.Later,when the drug was removed and the rats continued to receive just the sweet water,the functioning of the rats' immune systems:

A)improved.
B)decreased.
C)showed evidence of stimulus generalization.
D)remained unchanged.

Question 77

Edward Thorndike based his "law of effect" on which of the following observations?

A)With trial-and-error,hungry cats will eventually learn to press a lever in order to escape a puzzle box.
B)The immune systems of rats can be improved or impaired by pairing specific drugs with distinct tastes.
C)An 11-month old baby named Albert was conditioned to fear a white rat and other similar-looking animals.
D)Over time,dogs can be trained to salivate in response to a tone.

Question 78

In aversion therapy,a stimulus that triggers an unwanted behaviour is paired with:

A)a pleasant stimulus.
B)a discriminative stimulus.
C)a noxious stimulus.
D)a conditioned stimulus.

Question 79

A key principle in many therapies that treat phobias and fears is that the phobia or fear is learned and can therefore be:

A)adaptive
B)unlearned
C)counterconditioned
D)habituated

Question 80

An 11-year-old girl with an overactive immune system that attacks her own body receives a treatment in which cod liver oil is paired with an immune-suppressant drug.After these initial trials,she occasionally receives only cod liver oil (without the drug),yet her body still shows the desired impairment of functioning.According to the principles of classical conditioning,the immune suppressant drug would be considered the:

A)conditioned stimulus.
B)unconditioned stimulus.
C)conditioned response.
D)unconditioned response.