Deck 10: Observational Learning

Question 1

The first studies of observational learning ______.

A) proved beyond a doubt that animals learn by observing models
B) proved that only higher animals learn by observing models
C) suggested that some animals can learn by observing models under special circumstances
D) failed to find evidence of observational learning in animals

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Herbert and Harsh compared the behavior of cats that had observed a model perform an act 30 times with cats that had observed only 15 performances. They found that _________.

A) the extra 15 observances made no difference
B) the first 15 observations had a greater impact than the next 15
C) cats that observed 30 performances did substantially better than those that observed 15
D) cats that observed 15 performances actually did better than those that observed 30

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The earliest experiments on observational learning were performed by ______.

A) Ivan Pavlov
B) E. L. Thorndike
C) John B. Watson
D) Carl Warden

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Fisher and Harris found that observers learned more when a model _______.

A) frowned and shook her head
B) showed no emotional reaction
C) vacillated between happy and sad
D) avoided looking at the observer

Question 5

Learning is a change in behavior due to experience. In observational learning, the experience consists of _______.

A) observing events and their consequences
B) imitating a model
C) vicariously participating in events in one's environment
D) sharing the experiences of another person or animal

Question 6

Kanfer and Marston found that college students imitated the reinforced word choices of models. In their study, the observers _______.

A) watched a video of models talking
B) chatted with models in a bar
C) received text messages written by models
D) listened to models on a tape

Question 7

Ellen Levy and her colleagues found that children would imitate a model's reinforced preferences for _______.

A) pets
B) pictures
C) dolls
D) cartoon characters

Question 8

Primatologist Elizabeth Lornsdorf found that wild young female chimps are more likely than males to learn about __________ .

A) sign language
B) termite fishing
C) tooth flossing
D) potato washing

Question 9

Judith Fisher and Mary Harris found that if a model wore an eye patch, observers learned _______.

A) less from the model's behavior
B) more from the model's behavior
C) about the same amount from the model's behavior
D) only about the eye patch

Question 10

The learning history of observers has a powerful influence on what they learn from models. This is illustrated by the fact that chimpanzees that have had __________ training get more from observing a model than those that have not.

A) language
B) social skills
C) problem solving
D) insight

Question 11

Social observational learning may be defined as _________.

A) imitation of a model's behavior
B) a change in an observer's behavior
C) a change in behavior due to observing a model
D) a variation of operant learning

Question 12

You hear on the radio that Smash, the most popular rock music performer in Germany, has killed himself. He left a note ("Goodbye, cruel world"). You predict that _______.

A) Germans will riot in the streets
B) Germans will pass laws against rock music
C) the sale of rock music will decline markedly in Germany
D) there will be a rash of suicides or suicidal gestures among German rock music fans

Question 13

In a study by Hopper and colleagues, some observers watched a model slide a door and retrieve a desired item. Other observers saw the door slide in the absence of a model, revealing the desired item. The latter procedure is called the __________ condition.

A) asocial
B) model-free
C) ghost
D) whisper

Question 14

According to the author of your text, observational learning involves observing

A) events and their consequences.
B) the behavior of a model.
C) the effects of a model's behavior.
D) and imitating a model's actions.

Question 15

The tendency to imitate modeled behavior even when doing so is not reinforced is called _______.

A) superstitious imitation
B) neurotic imitation
C) generalized imitation
D) habitual imitation

Question 16

The influence of literary models on behavior was seen in the 18th century with the publication of _________.

A) The Sorrows of Young Werther
B) Swan Song
C) Death of the Knight
D) This Is Not the Answer

Question 17

Lyons, Young, and Keil actively encouraged children not to imitate the acts of a model that were irrelevant to solving a problem. The result was that the children _________.

A) ignored the irrelevant acts
B) imitated the irrelevant acts
C) performed original irrelevant acts
D) failed to solve the problem

Question 18

Jill is an impressionable 17-year-old college freshman with average academic skills. She lives in the college dorms with two roommates. One of them, Martha, is bright, attractive, popular, rich, and a
Local celebrity because of her singing; she seldom studies. Jill's other roommate, Ann, is also bright,
But has only a few friends, wears inexpensive clothes, and plays the tuba poorly; she studies all the
Time. On the basis of what you know about observational learning, you predict that Jill will ______.

A) major in music
B) major in psychology
C) flunk out
D) transfer to a different college

Question 19

If an observer looks on as a model's behavior is reinforced, we speak of _______.

A) vicarious reinforcement
B) model reinforcement
C) observer reinforcement
D) imitation

Question 20

In the Thompson and Russell two-mat study, children who observed a model __________.

A) did better than those who did not observe a model
B) did less well than those who did not observe a model
C) did about the same as those who did not observe a model
D) imitated irrelevant acts of the model

Question 21

Of the following terms, the one most associated with Bandura's theory is ________.

A) covert modeling
B) symbolic observation
C) retentional processes
D) simulation training

Question 22

Observing a model is particularly helpful if the task involved is easy.

Question 23

Keith and Catherine Hayes found that their adoptee, Viki, learned more from observing models than some children of about the same age. This was surprising because Viki was a _________.

A) monkey
B) chimpanzee
C) porpoise
C) Golden Retriever

Question 24

Those who are most likely to learn from observing a model are probably _______.

A) young children
B) older children
C) adults
D) very old adults

Question 25

In Bandura's theory of observational learning, steps taken during observation to improve later recall of a model's behavior are called ________.

A) mnemonic processes
B) cognitive processes
C) retentional processes
D) memorial processes

Question 26

A panel of experts reviewed studies on the influence of violence depicted on television and in films on the aggressive behavior of children. They found that the evidence for a causal connection between
Viewing such violence and aggressive behavior was _______.

A) weak
B) suggestive
C) strong but inconclusive
D) overwhelming

Question 27

The Herbert and Harsh study found that cats that had observed a model perform 30 times did no better than those that had observed a model perform 15 times.

Question 28

Herbert and Harsh demonstrated observational learning in cats.

Question 29

In the study by Thompson and Russell, there was a toy on a mat, but it was out of reach. Children learned to retrieve the toy by observing a model who pulled the mat closer.

Question 30

Whether children imitate an aggressive model depends largely on ________.

A) the nature of the aggressive behavior
B) whether the model's behavior is reinforced or punished
C) whether the child is encouraged to imitate the model
D) the relationship between the child and the model

Question 31

Some researchers believe that the tendency of humans to imitate irrelevant modeled acts is beneficial.

Question 32

Kanfer and Marston found that college students imitated the reinforced word choices of models, even
though the observers did not see the models.

Question 33

Research suggests that humans tend to imitate behavior that is irrelevant to obtaining reinforcers.

Question 34

Research suggests that the tendency to imitate the irrelevant acts of a model increases with age.

Question 35

Carl Warden was one of the first researchers to demonstrate observational learning in animals.

Question 36

If an observer watches a well-trained model perform a response, the procedure is not really
observational learning.

Question 37

Experiments on asocial observational learning raise the question of the extent to which the social variety is truly social.

Question 38

The operant learning model of observational learning takes the _________.

A) natural science approach
B) cognitive approach
C) intuitive approach
D) guess approach

Question 39

All studies of observational learning involve learning to solve a problem or perform a skill.

Question 40

Ellen Levy and her colleagues found that children's liking for pictures was influenced by the
consequences of the model's preferences.

Question 41

The author of your text identifies two kinds of observational learning: _______ and _______.

Question 42

The tendency to imitate modeled events that are irrelevant to solving a problem is called _______.

Question 43

Berger found that one important variable affecting observational learning in humans is the _______ of
the model.

Question 44

Discuss the role of observational learning in criminal behavior.

Question 45

If the consequences of a model's behavior strengthen the observer's tendency to behave in a similar manner, we say that the behavior has been _______ .

Question 46

In _______, an observer looks on as a model's behavior is punished.

Question 47

When researchers arrange for an event to occur in the absence of a model, this is called the _______ condition.

Question 48

Research suggests that some students who do not naturally learn from a model can be taught the skills necessary to do so.

Question 49

Although the consequences of a model's behavior have a strong influence on an observer's tendency to imitate the model's behavior, ultimately the consequences of the observer's behavior tend to win out.

Question 50

Models who are not proficient at the skill they demonstrate are called unskilled or _______ models.

Question 51

Bandura says that observational learning involves four processes. One of these is _______.

Question 52

Alan Kazdin found that praising attentiveness in one child actually reduced the attentiveness in another child.

Question 53

Efforts to influence people through modeling via mass media are called _______.

Question 54

There are two kinds of social observational learning experiences, vicarious _______ and vicarious _______.

Question 55

Videotapes of flossing monkeys suggest that mother monkeys attempt to teach their infants how to floss through modeling.
Completion

Question 56

The book, The Last Gentleman Adventurer, includes an anecdote that illustrates cross-species observational learning.

Question 57

The research of Rosekrans and Hartup on aggression suggests that if a model's behavior is sometimes reinforced and sometimes punished, it is more likely to be imitated than if it is consistently reinforced.

Question 58

Little of classroom learning is observational.

Question 59

Why has observational learning received less attention than other forms of learning?

Question 60

The traditional view of observational learning is what the author of your text calls _______ observational learning.

Question 61

What is the "down side" of observational learning?

Question 62

You hold the patent on a special beard-trimming razor, so it is to your advantage if beards are popular. How would you use modeling to increase the popularity of beardsinferred)
Answers should indicate that students recognize the importance of modeling and model characteristics.

Question 63

How might a person acquire superstitious behavior through observing a modelive an example. (inferred)
Superstitious behavior is presumably no different from other behavior as far as observational learning is concerned. If a model's superstitious behavior is repeatedly reinforced, it is likely to be imitated by an observer.

Question 64

Design an experiment to determine the role of delayed reinforcement of a model's behavior in
observational learning. (inferred)
A group design might have children observe an adult model, with the model's target behavior reinforced immediately in one condition and after a delay in another. In a single case design, the same children might observe models in two situations, one involving immediate reinforcement, the other involving delayed reinforcement. In either study, the dependent variable would be the tendency of the observers to imitate the target behavior.