Deck 9: Operant Applications

Question 1

Skinner's teaching machines presented the student with some information, then asked a question. The reinforcer for answering correctly was _________.

A) praise from Skinner or his assistant
B) an extra credit point
C) a point that later converted to cash
D) the opportunity to move on to the next frame

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Edward Taub's treatment of people with paralyzed limbs emerged from research with ___________.

A) chimpanzees
B) monkeys
C) rats
D) sea lions

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Your text describes the use of _______ to get a bull elephant to cooperate with having his toenails trimmed.

A) physical restraint
B) shaping
C) chaining
D) episodic training

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Jack is a homeless man who lives on the streets of New York City. One cold January night he takes up a position outside a fancy restaurant and starts shouting, "God has ordered an equestrian invasion of
Long Island." The restaurant owner calls the police and they take Jack to a hospital, where he spends
A quiet night. You look into Jack's medical history and find that he _____________.

A) has an inoperable brain tumor
B) is a minister
C) is a dedicated equesstrian
D) has been hospitalized for bizarre behavior in the winter more than in other seasons

Question 5

A highly effective web-based instructional program designed to teach reading that makes use of reinforcement and shaping is called _______.

A) Head of the Class
B) RedHeadReading
C) HeadOverHeels Reading
D) Headsprout

Question 6

Wesley Becker suggests that parents should think of themselves as _________.

A) business managers
B) zoo keepers
C) diplomats
D) teachers

Question 7

Charles Madsen and his colleagues asked a teacher to _______ . This change in teacher behavior produced a marked reduction in misconduct .

A) write a list of rules of conduct on the board
B) reprimand students immediately when they misbehaved
C) ignore misbehavior and praise students when they behaved well
D) stop the class and discuss disruptions when they occurred

Question 8

Hopkins and Conard found that when teachers made a few simple changes in how they taught, changes that included a shift from reprimands and threats to praise and positive feedback, students advanced at ______ the normal rate in reading.

A) half
B) one and a half times
C) more than twice
D) three times

Question 9

Tarpley and Schroeder attempted to reduce face-slapping in an 8-year-old boy by providing food when the boy played with a ball. The result was that face-slapping __________.

A) decreased by 40% in two hours
B) decreased by 60% in one hour
C) decreased by 90% in 40 minutes
D) increased by 50% in 20 minutes

Question 10

John gets into fights on a regular basis, always with formidable opponents. He has often been injured in these fights and knows that he runs the risk of sustaining serious brain damage or other permanent injuries, yet he continues to fight. John is a very successful professional boxer. This example illustrates that bizarre behavior _________.

A) can be a good way of making a living
B) is incomprehensible
C) is less puzzling when the reinforcers maintaining it are known
D) is sometimes a good solution to the problems people face

Question 11

Research suggests that bonuses based on employee performance can improve productivity ________.

A) but threaten company survival
B) and reduce company profits only slightly
C) without increasing company costs
D) and reduce company costs

Question 12

Hal __________ pioneered the use of operant procedures to improve the quality of life of captive wild animals.

A) A. Burton
B) Hobbes
C) Rosenblatt
D) Markowitz

Question 13

Lovaas and Simmons used punishment to reduce self-injurious behavior in a boy. Before treatment, this boy would hit himself at a rate of up to _______.

A) 5 times a minute
B) 10 times a minute
C) 20 times a minute
D) 30 times a minute

Question 14

___________ is the idea that any problem behavior that is eliminated through learning-based treatment will be replaced by a new problem behavior.

A) Recidivism
B) Spontaneous replacement
C) Spontaneous recovery
D) Symptom substitution

Question 15

Problem behavior in children can usually be dealt with effectively through ___________.

A) waiting
B) differential reinforcement
C) instruction
D) explaining why their behavior is bad

Question 16

Brad Alford's study of the man who thought he was followed by a witch is an example of ________.

A) anecdotal evidence
B) the case study method
C) a group design experiment
D) an ABA design experiment

Question 17

In the treatment of long-standing self-injurious behavior, punishment is often ________.

A) ineffective
B) effective
C) effective, but the results are short-lived
D) effective, but a new form of undesirable behavior typically appears

Question 18

Carr and McDowell found that Jim's scratching was reinforced mainly by _______.

A) teacher reprimands
B) being laughed at by other students
C) strange sensations he experienced from scratching
D) parental attention

Question 19

A study by John Austin and colleagues increased safe practices in roofers by providing those who followed safe practices at least 80% of the time with ________.

A) bonuses
B) coupons redeemable at a local department store
C) free lunch
D) time off

Question 20

Skinner devised a mechanical teaching machine that divided the material to be learned into short segments called ________.

A) capsules
B) frames
C) segments
D) units

Question 21

Sometimes the reinforcer that maintains self-injurious behavior is escape from an unpleasant task.

Question 22

Wesley Becker argues that parents are _______.

Question 23

The first true teaching machines were built by B. F. Skinner.

Question 24

Problem behavior in children can usually be dealt with effectively through ________ reinforcement.

Question 25

Time out is a form of punishment.

Question 26

Most teachers reprimand students more often than they praise them.

Question 27

Layng and Andronis reported the case of a psychiatric patient who feared that her head was falling off. This delusion appeared to be due to the fact that it got her social contact from the staff.

Question 28

Research demonstrates that when teachers provide positive consequences for good behavior and ignore minor misbehavior, the usual result is an increase in both good and bad behavior.

Question 29

Eddie McNamara's study showed that praising students when they are "on task" does not increase the
frequency of on-task behavior in adolescents.

Question 30

The Lamere study found that performance-based bonuses improved productivity, but there was no difference between the effects of a 9% bonus and a 3% bo73)
Completion

Question 31

The author of your text suggests that the worst orphanages illustrate the importance of operant learning to normal child development.

Question 32

Efforts to treat stroke victims with paralyzed limbs have proved unsuccessful.

Question 33

Delusions are often thought of as the products of a disordered "inner world," but operant learning research suggests that they are the products of a disordered _________.

Question 34

There is no scientific support for symptom substitution.

Question 35

Taub's research suggests that one reason people do not recover following a stroke or injury that causes paralysis is because they do not use the damaged limb.

Question 36

In Skinner's teaching machines, the only reinforcer was the opportunity to move on to the next item.

Question 37

Self-injurious behavior sometimes occurs in healthy people, including college students.

Question 38

Betty Hart and Todd Risley found that the parents who provided the most instruction and practice in language later had the children with the best-developed verbal skills.

Question 39

Ivar Lovaas first noticed that aversives could reduce self-injurious behavior when he absentmindedly slapped a child who was banging his head against a wall.

Question 40

At Morningside Academy, student achievement test scores in reading and math typically rise two
grade levels in one school year.

Question 41

CIMT stands for______________.

Question 42

The first teaching machines were designed by ___________.

Question 43

How could you use operant procedures to improve the adoption rate of orphans aged five to twelve?

Question 44

Which is the better way of reducing the frequency of misbehavior in students, time out or differential reinforcement?

Question 45

Mary-Lou, aged 3 years, still does not speak. Medical examination reveals that she is in perfect health.
Testing shows that she has normal intelligence. Her parents do not abuse her; in fact, they spoil her
shamelessly. What is the most likely explanation for Mary-Lou's failure to speak?

Question 46

The idea that for bizarre behavior to result in reinforcement it must sometimes occur when reinforcement is unavailable has been called __________.

Question 47

The author of your text suggests that operant procedures may be useful not only in treating medical disorders, but also in assessing them. Describe how operant learning was used to assess the learning ability of infants born prematurely.

Question 48

Researchers have demonstrated that the rate of work-related accidents can be reduced by reinforcing safe practices with bonuses and time off, but why are such efforts necessaryn other words, why do workers not follow safe practices spontaneously since they benefit by avoiding injuries?