Deck 7: Learning and Adaptation: the Role of Experience

Question 1

Kaori is playing on the floor while her mother cooks.Her mother sets a spoon on the counter and goes to the refrigerator.Kaori grabs the spoon,burns her fingers,jerks her hand away,and begins to cry.The next time her mother sets a spoon down on the counter,Kaori remembers that she got burned the last time and does not try to touch it.We can say that this experience produced a relatively enduring change in Kaori's behaviour;in other words,Kaori has _____________________ something.

A) discriminated
B) spontaneously recovered
C) learned
D) habituated

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Bryn adopted her cat,Minnie,from the local shelter.She feeds Minnie dry food,but the previous owner fed her only canned food.Every time Bryn opens her refrigerator,her new cat comes running.Bryn never gives Minnie food after she opens the refrigerator,however,so eventually the cat stops showing up.The cat's learned response to the sound of the refrigerator being opened has been

A) generalized.
B) extinguished.
C) habituated.
D) recovered spontaneously.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Irinia's dog loves to go for walks,and she always puts a leash on him when they go out.At first,the dog wagged his tail only when they got outside;eventually,he began to wag his tail when she picked up the leash.Irinia recently locked herself out of her place,so she has begun picking up her keys and putting them in her pocket before she takes down the leash.Now the dog begins to wag his tail when she picks up her keys.What kind of learning has happened?

A) Operant conditioning
B) Discriminatory
C) Higher-order conditioning
D) Persistence

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Gavin recently went deep-sea fishing with some friends.Unfortunately,he was extremely seasick the entire time he was on the boat,and now when he sees boats he feels queasy.In this situation,the conditioned stimulus is the

A) sea.
B) boat.
C) friend who invited Gavin.
D) nausea.

Question 5

Irinia's dog loves to go for walks,and she always puts a leash on him when they go out.The dog used to wag his tail as soon as they got outside,but now he wags his tail when Irinia picks up the leash.The period of time in which the dog learned to associate the leash with walks is called the ____________________ interval.

A) acquisition
B) generalization
C) habituation
D) persistence

Question 6

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 7

Gavin recently went deep-sea fishing with some friends.Unfortunately,he was extremely seasick the entire time he was on the boat,and now when he sees boats he feels queasy.In this situation,the conditioned response is the

A) sea.
B) boat.
C) friend who invited Gavin.
D) nausea.

Question 8

Sonia's mother is often busy and doesn't pay very much attention to her.When Sonia cries or screams,her mother comes over and scolds her.Though she doesn't like being scolded,Sonia prefers getting some attention to having no attention at all.Sonia learns that when she wants her mother's attention,she should scream or cry.What is the reinforcer in this situation?

A) The mother's attention
B) The screaming
C) Sonia
D) The mother's busyness

Question 9

Troy would like to teach his dog to play a toy piano.Since the dog is unlikely to spontaneously begin playing the piano,Troy first rewards his dog for going near the piano,then for touching the piano,then for pressing on one of the keys of the piano,and so on until the dog is able to play a simple tune.This process is called

A) habituation.
B) adaptation.
C) generalization.
D) shaping.

Question 10

Ben is afraid to ride elevators,but he just got a job on the 30^th floor of a skyscraper.He has only a few days to get rid of his fear,so his therapist says he must face the fear directly.Ben and his therapist get on an elevator and ride it up and down until Ben realizes that he is safe.This is called

A) exposure
B) psychodynamic therapy.
C) discrimination therapy.
D) cognitive cancellation.

Question 11

Sonia's mother is often busy and doesn't pay very much attention to her.When Sonia cries or screams,her mother scolds her.Though she doesn't like being scolded,Sonia prefers getting some attention to having no attention at all.Sonia learns that when she wants her mother's attention,she should scream or cry.Eventually,however,Sonia's mother realizes that Sonia only wants attention,so she stops coming over when Sonia cries and screams.What should happen as a result?

A) The mother will learn to discriminate against Sonia.
B) Higher-order conditioning.
C) Sonia's screaming behaviour will be extinguished.
D) Sonia's screaming behaviour will be reinforced.

Question 12

Bryn adopted her cat,Minnie,from the local shelter.She feeds Minnie dry food,but the previous owner fed her only canned food.Every time Bryn opens her refrigerator,her new cat comes running.Bryn never gives Minnie food after she opens the refrigerator,however,so eventually the cat stops showing up.Once in a while,though,Minnie will come running when Bryn opens the refrigerator,as if food is forthcoming.This reappearance of Minnie's old behaviour is called

A) generalization.
B) extinction.
C) habituation.
D) spontaneous recovery.

Question 13

Stuart hates passing the neighbours' house on his walk home from school because the bulldog there barks at him.Because of this,Stuart became anxious around all dogs;however,his family recently adopted a Labrador Retriever.The dog is very gentle and never barks at Stuart,and now Stuart is anxious only around the bulldog down the street.Stuart has learned to

A) generalize.
B) discriminate.
C) condition the bulldog.
D) condition the Labrador Retriever.

Question 14

Irinia's dog loves to go for walks,and she always puts a leash on him when they go out.The dog used to wag his tail as soon as they got outside,but now he wags his tail when Irinia picks up the leash.In this case,what is the conditioned stimulus?

A) Irinia
B) The leash
C) Going for a walk
D) The wagging tail

Question 15

Gavin recently went deep-sea fishing with some friends.Unfortunately,he was extremely seasick the entire time he was on the boat,and now when he sees boats he feels queasy.This is an example of

A) habituation.
B) spontaneous recovery.
C) discrimination.
D) classical conditioning.

Question 16

Sometimes when people are punished they don't stop doing the behaviour,they just make the right response to end the aversive (unpleasant)stimulus,for example,by lying.This is called

A) avoidance conditioning.
B) the Skinner effect.
C) systematic desensitization.
D) cognitive cancellation.

Question 17

Sonia's mother is often busy and doesn't pay very much attention to her.When Sonia cries or screams,her mother comes over and scolds her.Though she doesn't like being scolded,Sonia prefers getting some attention to having no attention at all.Sonia learns that when she wants her mother's attention,she should scream or cry.What kind of learning is this?

A) Operant conditioning
B) Discriminatory
C) Higher-order conditioning
D) Classical conditioning

Question 18

Finn has been wearing the same cologne for over a year.At work one day,one of his colleagues mentions that he might want to use a little less,because everyone can smell him when he walks into a room.Finn is confused,because he can hardly smell the cologne-that's why he puts so much on! What has happened?

A) Finn has been on a variable-ratio schedule.
B) Finn has habituated to the smell of his cologne.
C) Finn is demonstrating escape conditioning.
D) Finn was biologically prepared to like this particular cologne.

Question 19

Janice is trying to teach her dog to heel,so she buys a choke collar.Every time the dog strains on the leash,the collar restricts around his neck.Every time the dog drops back to walk beside her,the collar loosens up.In theory,this should cause the dog to learn to walk beside Janice.What type of consequence results from the collar loosening up?

A) Positive reinforcement
B) Negative reinforcement
C) Aversive/positive punishment (punishment by application)
D) Response cost/negative punishment (punishment by removal)

Question 20

Irinia's dog loves to go for walks,and she always puts a leash on him when they go out.The dog used to wag his tail as soon as they got outside,but now he wags his tail when Irinia picks up the leash.One day,Irinia is cleaning out her garage and pulls some old bungee cords out of a box.Her dog begins to jump around and wag his tail the same way he does when he thinks they are going for a walk.The dog has ___________________ the stimulus of the leash to the bungee cords.

A) discriminated
B) unconditioned
C) extinguished
D) generalized

Question 21

Simba the cat was lying in the laundry room watching her owner do laundry.Now her owner has gone to the market,and the breeze from an open window has blown the door of the laundry room almost completely closed.Simba has never had to open a door before,but she knows that if she wants to move something,she must use her paw.She is also aware that the door is in her way.Eventually,she sticks her paw into the space under the door and pulls,and the door opens.This sudden perception of a useful relationship that helped Simba solve her problem is referred to as

A) biological preparedness.
B) insight.
C) discrimination.
D) instinctive drift.

Question 22

You use a ______________ schedule of reinforcement when you are teaching someone to do something new.You use a ______________ schedule of reinforcement after they have learned a behaviour and you want to maintain it.

A) continuous;intermittent
B) intermittent;continuous
C) negative;positive
D) positive;negative

Question 23

The Tanzanian government implemented a radio soap opera in order to decrease the spread of HIV/AIDS.Which of the following is not one of the goals of this project?

A) Make listeners realize that they were at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS
B) Have listeners reduce their number of sexual partners and to use condoms
C) Increase listeners' self-efficacy by showing them how to control risks
D) Make listeners realize that self-esteem is important in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS

Question 24

After Albert Bandura showed children videos of grownups beating up a Bobo doll,the children beat up Bobo in exactly the same way.This is an example of

A) systematic desensitization.
B) classical conditioning.
C) observational learning.
D) spontaneous recovery.

Question 25

Dharma has agreed to take a survey to help her roommate with a sociology project.Her roommate promises that the survey is short and won't take much of Dharma's time.Looking through the survey,Dharma sees that if she answers "yes" to one particular question,she can move on to the next question.If she answers "no," she will be asked to write an explanation.Though Dharma disagrees with many of the statements on the survey,she resents the amount of time explaining her "no" answers will take,so she answers "yes" to every question.Dharma is displaying

A) escape conditioning.
B) the Skinner effect.
C) systematic desensitization.
D) habituation.

Question 26

Grounding a child or taking away her TV privileges (an unpleasant experience)because she has misbehaved is an example of

A) response cost/negative punishment (punishment by removal).
B) aversive/positive punishment (punishment by application).
C) acquisition.
D) generalization.

Question 27

Sometimes behaviour can't be controlled by conditioning alone,because instinctive behaviours get in the way.For example,researchers have taught raccoons to put coins in a piggybank,but eventually the raccoons don't want to give up the coins after they get them.This biological constraint on learning is called

A) instinctive drift.
B) conditioned aversion.
C) the Garcia effect.
D) signal relations.

Question 28

About 65 percent of adults over the age of 20 are overweight.Based on what we know about operant conditioning,which of the following may contribute to the problem?

A) Eating is pleasurable for most people (positive reinforcement for eating happens immediately).
B) Punishment (gaining weight)happens over the long term rather than right away.
C) Television and movie stars often seem to eat whatever they want,apparently without gaining weight (observational learning).
D) All of the choices.

Question 29

David's mother is terrified of snakes.When David sees how much snakes scare her,he also feels scared of snakes.This is an example of

A) observational learning.
B) systematic desensitization.
C) spontaneous recovery.
D) discrimination.

Question 30

Hitesh's friends asked him to meet them for dinner,but he has never been to the restaurant they name.He asks where the restaurant is located and is told that it sits at the corner of Main Avenue and State Street.Though he has never been to the corner of Main and State,he knows where both roads are and is able to figure out where the restaurant is.He is using

A) a response cost.
B) a cognitive map.
C) systematic desensitization.
D) shaping.

Question 31

Getting a paycheque every two weeks is an example of a

A) fixed-ratio schedule.
B) variable-ratio schedule.
C) fixed-interval schedule.
D) variable-interval schedule.

Question 32

Trent's cat comes running when he shakes a can of treats.Trent wants to teach his cat to come when he says,"Do you want a treat?" To do this,he will ask,"Do you want a treat?" before he shakes the can of treats.Trent is

A) trying to extinguish a behaviour.
B) using the parallel distributed processing model.
C) using higher-order conditioning.
D) unaware that instinctive drift will interfere with his cat's learning.

Question 33

After Meg eats hamburger for the first time,she gets sick and vomits.The next time someone asks Meg if she wants a hamburger,she feels nauseated,and she actually vomits.Meg has a

A) phobia.
B) conditioned taste aversion.
C) shaped response.
D) generalization.

Question 34

In Bandura's social-cognitive theory of learning a key motivational factor in learning is self-efficacy.People who are high in self-efficacy believe

A) that obtaining desired outcomes is largely due to being in the right place at the right time.
B) that it is best to stick with things you know well.
C) they have the behavioural capability to obtain desired outcomes.
D) the key to success lies in convincing people you are more competent than others.

Question 35

Tracy suffered from nausea for the first three months of her pregnancy.Because it was easy,her husband ordered Chinese take-out food three or four evenings each week.In spite of her nausea,Tracy forced herself to eat the take-out food.A year later,she and a friend walk past a Chinese restaurant and the smell of the food makes her nauseated.Which of the following explains why Tracy felt nauseated?

A) Classical conditioning
B) Instinctive drift
C) Spontaneous recovery
D) Observational learning

Question 36

Ashanti enjoys a style of dress her classmates call quirky when they're being kind and weird when they're not.Operant conditioning suggests that Ashanti should stop dressing in this way,because the environment is punishing her,but she doesn't.She says that her dress style mirrors her inner uniqueness.In other words,she has strong internal reinforcement from her

A) genetic antecedents.
B) latent learning.
C) Skinner box.
D) cognitive self-evaluations.

Question 37

Alex often visits the sandwich shop next to his office building.Each time he buys a sandwich,his "frequent customer" card is stamped.When he has 20 stamps,he gets a free sandwich.This is an example of

A) a token economy.
B) a negative reinforcer.
C) shaping.
D) modeling.

Question 38

Kalliyan has taken the same route home from work for years,but today the road is closed due to an accident.Kalliyan has an important work presentation that she can't miss,so she takes a back road that she knows is there but has never used.She is displaying

A) latent learning.
B) shaping.
C) instinctive drift.
D) preparedness.

Question 39

Ellie has migraine headaches on a regular basis.If she lies down as she feels a headache arising,she can prevent a migraine from developing.Her doctor prescribes a new medication that is 95 percent effective in preventing migraines.Ellie takes the medication but also continues to lie down when she feels a migraine coming on.Three months after he writes the prescription,the doctor asks her whether it has helped her.According to the two-factor theory of avoidance learning,Ellie

A) wouldn't know,since she lies down when she feels a headache developing.
B) would probably say the medication works and she has not had a headache in three months.
C) would probably tell the doctor she took the medication but doesn't think it works.
D) wouldn't know because she is not a doctor.