Deck 6: Learning

Question 1

A type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus is known as ​

A)state-dependent learning.
B)classical conditioning.
C)operant conditioning.
D)observational conditioning.

Answer 1

classical conditioning.

Question 2

Pavlov found that meat powder placed on a dog's tongue will make the dog salivate. In Pavlov's terms, the meat powder is a(n)

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

Answer 2

unconditioned stimulus.

Question 3

Darrel was dancing with his new girlfriend at an Elvis tribute. When the band started playing, "Can't Help Falling in Love with You," his girlfriend gave him a long, passionate kiss, which Darrel found very enjoyable. Now Darrel finds that every time he hears "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" on the radio, he becomes mildly excited. In this example, the long, passionate kiss is a(n)

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

Answer 3

unconditioned stimulus.

Question 4

In Pavlov's principal experiment, if a dog salivates after hearing a tone, the salivation would be the

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

Question 5

If a child covers her ears when seeing fireworks, before hearing the sound of them, seeing the fireworks would be a(n) ​

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

Question 6

A previously neutral stimulus, that through conditioning acquires the capacity to evoke a response, is a(n)

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

Question 7

Holly was dancing with her new boyfriend at an Elvis tribute. When the band started playing, "Can't Help Falling in Love with You," her boyfriend gave her a long, passionate kiss, which Holly found very enjoyable. Now Holly finds that every time she hears "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" on the radio, she becomes a little flushed. In this example, the conditioned stimulus is the

A)long, passionate kiss.
B)song, "Can't Help Falling in Love with You."
C)enjoyment she experienced after the kiss from her boyfriend.
D)flushing she experiences when she hears the song on the radio.

Question 8

Carson used to enjoy lime sherbet so when he was in Mexico, he tried frozen lime margaritas. After his fourth margarita, Carson became extremely ill. Now he finds that even the sight of lime sherbet in a bowl can make him feel queasy. In this example, the unconditioned stimulus is the

A)lime margaritas that Carson consumed.
B)illness that followed the fourth margarita.
C)sight of lime sherbet.
D)queasiness that Carson feels when he sees lime sherbet.

Question 9

Lyn is afraid of all spiders because her brother once dropped a spider down her shirt when she was younger. Today, even the sight of a rubber spider is enough to send shivers down her spine. The learning process that could BEST account for Lyn's fear of spiders is

A)operant conditioning.
B)observational learning.
C)delayed reinforcement.
D)classical conditioning.

Question 10

In classical conditioning, an unconditioned stimulus is a(n)

A)unlearned reaction to a stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning.
B)learned reaction to a stimulus that occurs as a result of previous conditioning.
C)stimulus that evokes a response without previous conditioning.
D)previously neutral stimulus that has acquired the capacity to evoke a learned response.

Question 11

One Saturday, Clayton was sitting at home when the telephone rang. A local company was making promotional calls and told Clayton he had just won a $500 gift certificate. He felt a rush of excitement at the thought of what he could do with $500. Now Clayton finds that whenever he hears a telephone ring, he feels a little surge of excitement. In this example, the conditioned response is the

A)surge of excitement that Clayton feels whenever he hears a telephone ring.
B)ringing of a telephone.
C)news that he had just won a $500 gift certificate.
D)rush of excitement he felt when he won the certificate.

Question 12

Classical conditioning could account for how a child learns to ​

A)sing a song. ​
B)tie shoe laces.
C)print letters.
D)fear the dark.

Question 13

In classical conditioning, the stimulus that naturally evokes an unlearned response is the ​

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

Question 14

Pavlov became interested in conditioning when he observed laboratory dogs ​

A)salivating right before food was placed in their mouths.
B)failing to salivate when food was placed in their mouths.
C)salivating only when food was placed in their mouths.
D)salivating right after they had swallowed food.

Question 15

Charity used to really enjoy potato salad, so at a family reunion she ate a large helping. Unfortunately, the potato salad had not been kept cold, and Charity became quite ill after eating it. Now she finds that even the sight of potatoes in the grocery store can make her feel sick to her stomach. In this example, the sick feeling Charity experiences when she sees potatoes in the grocery store is a(n)

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

Question 16

In Pavlov's original experiment on classical conditioning, the unconditioned response was ​

A)the sound of a tone.
B)salivation elicited by a tone.
C)the presentation of meat powder following a tone.
D)salivation elicited by meat powder.

Question 17

In Pavlov's principal experiment, the conditioned stimulus was the

A)salivation.
B)meat powder.
C)light.
D)tone.

Question 18

Imagine eating a large bowl of ice cream. If just thinking about the ice cream causes your mouth to water, your salivation would be a(n)

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

Question 19

In Pavlov's principal experiment, the unconditioned stimulus was the

A)salivation.
B)light.
C)tone.
D)meat powder.

Question 20

A relatively durable change in behavior or knowledge that is due to experience is defined as

A)mediation.
B)maturation.
C)learning.
D)conditioning.

Question 21

When an individual has a phobia, the irrational fear and anxiety that the person experiences is a(n)

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

Question 22

On Tuesday morning, Chloe prepared her typical breakfast of corn flakes with milk and a cup of coffee. However, instead of having grapefruit with her breakfast, she tried eating guava for the first time. Later, she became extremely ill. If her illness causes her to develop a conditioned response to one of her breakfast items, the conditioned response will MOST likely be to ​

A)guava, because it was a novel stimulus.
B)milk, because the milk may have been sour.
C)grapefruit, because that was the one thing missing from her typical breakfast.
D)coffee, because coffee is a stimulant.

Question 23

The reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction and a period of rest is called ​

A)disinhibition.
B)reconditioning.
C)stimulus generalization.
D)spontaneous recovery.

Question 24

Researchers have found that animals show evidence of classical conditioning if they are injected with a drug that chemically causes immunosuppression while they are simultaneously drinking an unusual-tasting liquid. In these studies, the conditioned response would be ​

A)the immunosuppression.
B)the taste of the liquid that is used.
C)the injection of the drug.
D)fear of the injection process.

Question 25

Anthony classically conditioned his cat to purr whenever the phone rang. One day, the phone rang for nearly two hours straight when Anthony wasn't home, and the cat's conditioned purring response underwent extinction. Today, the response has spontaneously recovered, but if the conditioned purring response were to undergo extinction again, Anthony should expect that it will

A)take less time to extinguish than it took for the original extinction.
B)take more time to extinguish than it took for the original extinction.
C)take the same amount of time to extinguish as it took for the original extinction.
D)be impossible to extinguish the response now that spontaneous recovery has occurred.

Question 26

Simon cringes every time he hears a dentist's drill, even when he is sitting in the waiting room of his dentist's office. In this example, cringing in the waiting room is a(n)

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

Question 27

The continued presentation of the CS without the US will result in the gradual disappearance of the CR. This phenomenon is known as ​

A)extinction.
B)inhibition.
C)suppression.
D)conditioned forgetting.

Question 28

Belinda was very close to her father because he always made her feel safe. Belinda's father always wore Stetson cologne. Today, every time she smells the scent of Stetson cologne, she develops a pleasant feeling of warmth and comfort. The learning process that could BEST account for Belinda's pleasant feelings is

A)operant conditioning.
B)observational learning.
C)delayed reinforcement.
D)classical conditioning.

Question 29

Frederick cringes every time he hears a dentist's drill, even when he is sitting in the waiting room of his dentist's office. In this example, the pain of dental drilling is a(n)

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

Question 30

When a conditioned response shows spontaneous recovery, the rejuvenated response typically ​

A)is weaker than the previously conditioned response.
B)is stronger than the previously conditioned response.
C)occurs before the conditioned stimulus.
D)changes to an unconditioned stimulus.

Question 31

Responses learned through classical conditioning would include all of the following EXCEPT

A)both pleasant and unpleasant emotional responses.
B)simple reflexive behaviors such as blinking.
C)the physiological functioning of the immune system.
D)voluntary behaviors such as setting the table for dinner.

Question 32

Mariah developed a fear of the water when she fell off a river raft last summer. This year, she took swimming lessons and thought she had finally overcome her fear of water. She was eagerly looking forward to an upcoming rafting trip, but as soon as she stepped onto the raft, she was instantly terrified again. This illustrates the classical conditioning process known as ​

A)extinction.
B)second-order conditioning.
C)stimulus generalization.
D)spontaneous recovery.

Question 33

Stimulus contiguity refers to whether the stimuli

A)automatically produce conditioning.
B)are novel.
C)occur together in time and space.
D)have been conditioned prior to the current trial.

Question 34

When personal likes and dislikes are acquired through processes of classical conditioning, the learning is referred to as ​

A)evaluative conditioning.
B)higher-order conditioning.
C)positive reinforcement.
D)vicarious learning.

Question 35

Ken used to drool at the smell of peanut butter cookies as they baked, and he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into that first cookie. However, Ken's new roommate makes terrible peanut butter cookies, and the smell of them baking is no longer associated with a wonderful taste experience. Consequently, Ken finds that the smell of the cookies no longer makes him drool in anticipation. This illustrates the classical conditioning process known as ​

A)spontaneous recovery.
B)second-order conditioning.
C)extinction.
D)avoidance.

Question 36

When advertisers pair their products with attractive people or enjoyable surroundings in the hope that the pairings will cause their products to evoke good feelings, they are using principles derived from ​

A)classical conditioning. ​
B)state-dependent learning.
C)observational learning.
D)operant conditioning.

Question 37

In order to weaken or eliminate a conditioned response, you would present ​

A)the US before the CS several times.
B)the CS alone several times.
C)the US alone several times.
D)extra pairings of the CS and US.

Question 38

Classical conditioning could account for how a child learns to

A)stay comfortable in unfamiliar situations.
B)play baseball.
C)work hard in school.
D)feel happy when exposed to a certain smell.

Question 39

The initial stage of learning a response is called ​

A)extinction. ​
B)contiguity.
C)acquisition.
D)conditioning.

Question 40

If you find that you have more positive feelings toward a product after an attractive spokesperson gives you a free sample, your change in attitudes would be said to have resulted from ​

A)evaluative conditioning. ​
B)escape learning.
C)reflexive conditioning.
D)observational learning.

Question 41

When Diana was three years old, she became terrified when the neighbor's budgie bird kept flying near her head. Today, she is afraid of all birds, including robins, pigeons, and blue jays. Diana's fear illustrates the classical conditioning process of

A)preparedness.
B)stimulus generalization.
C)stimulus discrimination.
D)negative avoidance.

Question 42

In the Little Albert experiment on conditioned emotional responses, the conditioned stimulus was the

A)rabbit.
B)rat.
C)loud noise.
D)fear reaction.

Question 43

In higher-order conditioning a(n) _____ functions as if it were a(n) _____.

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

Question 44

When an organism responds to a specific conditioned stimulus and doesn't respond to another stimulus that is similar to the conditioned stimulus, it is referred to as ​

A)stimulus generalization.
B)stimulus discrimination.
C)extinction.
D)spontaneous recovery.

Question 45

Research on spontaneous recovery suggests that ​

A)classical conditioning can only be used to condition biologically meaningful responses.
B)once a conditioned response has been extinguished, a person will also stop responding to other stimuli that are similar.
C)extinction does not erase a learned association, it only suppresses or interferes with a conditioned response.
D)when a conditioned response is extinguished, higher-order responses replace the original response.

Question 46

Classical conditioning is to _____ responses as operant conditioning is to _____.

A)voluntary; involuntary
B)reflexive; extinction
C)learned; reflexive
D)reflexive; voluntary

Question 47

In the Little Albert experiment on conditioned emotional responses, stimulus generalization was shown when Albert showed the fear response to ​

A)the rabbit.
B)the rat.
C)the loud noise.
D)his mother.

Question 48

When Lindsay was nine years old, the neighbor's Chihuahua bit her on the ankle. Today, Lindsay is still terrified of Chihuahuas, but she likes almost all other types of dogs. Lindsay's fear illustrates the classical conditioning process of

A)preparedness.
B)stimulus discrimination.
C)stimulus generalization.
D)negative avoidance.

Question 49

Dillon is four years old, and his parents want to teach him to say "Please" and "Thank you." They will be MOST successful in altering Dillon's behavior if they use

A)classical conditioning.
B)higher-order conditioning.
C)noncontingent reinforcement.
D)operant conditioning.

Question 50

Stimulus generalization occurs when ​

A)there is a temporal association between two stimuli.
B)an organism fails to respond to stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus used in conditioning.
C)an unconditioned stimulus fails to elicit the unconditioned response.
D)an organism responds to new stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus.

Question 51

Learning to tie one's shoes is MOST likely acquired via the process of

A)operant conditioning.
B)reflexive conditioning.
C)spontaneous recovery.
D)classical conditioning.

Question 52

When Luis was a child, he really liked the smell of the rose-scented perfume his mother used to wear. He came to associate that scent with snuggles and hugs from his mom. As an adult, Luis likes any floral scent, including the smell of lilacs and wildflowers. This example illustrates the classical conditioning process of ​

A)stimulus generalization.
B)stimulus discrimination.
C)preparedness.
D)spontaneous recovery.

Question 53

Six-year-old Kristen is afraid of balloons because a balloon once popped in her face while she was holding it. Last week, she went to the circus and there was a clown holding a huge assortment of helium balloons. Now she is also afraid of clowns, even though none of the balloons the clown was holding popped. Kristen's fear of clowns illustrates the classical conditioning process of ​

A)higher-order conditioning. ​
B)preparedness.
C)spontaneous recovery.
D)the renewal effect.

Question 54

Recent research suggests that panic disorder may be associated with ​

A)stimulus generalization.
B)stimulus discrimination.
C)noncontingent reinforcement.
D)extinction.

Question 55

A dog is first conditioned to salivate to a tone. Then, a light is paired with the tone for a number of trials. Finally, the light is presented alone, and the dog salivates. This procedure is known as

A)chaining .
B)higher-order conditioning.
C)compound conditioning.
D)sensory preconditioning.

Question 56

Bart developed a fear of flying when he was piloting a small plane through some severe turbulence. He has been seeing a therapist, and it appears that his fear response has been successfully extinguished. The therapist used a flight simulator to help Bart practice his piloting skills in a safe setting. However, the first time Bart stepped back into a real plane, his fear returned. This example illustrates the phenomenon known as

A)second-order conditioning.
B)the renewal effect.
C)unblocking.
D)stimulus generalization.

Question 57

If a dog salivates to a blue light and not to a yellow light, the dog is showing evidence of ​

A)spontaneous recovery.
B)conditioned emotional reactions.
C)stimulus generalization.
D)stimulus discrimination.

Question 58

In the Little Albert experiment on conditioned emotional responses, the unconditioned stimulus was the

A)rabbit.
B)rat.
C)loud noise.
D)fear reaction.

Question 59

In the 1930s, learning that is influenced by stimuli that follow the response was christened "operant conditioning" by ​

A)Ivan Pavlov.
B)John Watson.
C)B. F. Skinner.
D)Edward Thorndike.

Question 60

If a classically conditioned response undergoes extinction in an environment that is different from the one in which the response was acquired, the extinguished response will often reappear if the individual is returned to the original environment where acquisition took place. This phenomenon is called ​

A)second-order conditioning.
B)the renewal effect.
C)stimulus generalization.
D)vicarious conditioning.

Question 61

According to Skinner, the fundamental principle of operant conditioning is that organisms tend to repeat those responses that

A)reduce a biological need.
B)are followed by favorable consequences.
C)decrease the probability of the consequence that produced it.
D)increase a biological need.

Question 62

When reinforcement for a behavior is removed, the consequence will be ​

A)an immediate weakening and eventual disappearance of the behavior.
B)a brief increase in the frequency with which the behavior is performed, followed by the weakening and eventual disappearance of the behavior.
C)the emergence of superstitious behavior designed to reinstitute the reinforcement.
D)unpredictable unless more information about the nature of the behavior is provided.

Question 63

Nate is watching the cumulative recorder that is connected to a box where a rat is pressing a lever to receive food reinforcement. The slope of the line is becoming flatter and flatter over time. Based on this output, Nate can conclude that the rat's response rate ​

A)is increasing over time.
B)will soon show spontaneous recovery. ​
C)is decreasing over time.
D)is caused by inadequate stimulus generalization.

Question 64

April wants to teach her cat not to claw at the arms of her couch. She will be MOST successful in reducing the cat's scratching behavior if she uses

A)classical conditioning.
B)higher-order conditioning.
C)observational learning.
D)operant conditioning.

Question 65

The rules that determine whether responses lead to the presentation of a reinforcer are called ​

A)reinforcement contingencies.
B)stimulus contiguities.
C)schedules of reinforcement.
D)antecedents.

Question 66

Kylee used to bring drawings home from her kindergarten class every day. Her parents would put the pictures on the refrigerator and tell Kylee how nice the pictures were. Lately, her parents haven't been putting her artwork on the refrigerator, and now Kylee has stopped bringing drawings home with her. This example illustrates the operant conditioning process of ​

A)punishment. ​
B)avoidance.
C)resistance.
D)extinction.

Question 67

The key dependent variable measured in operant conditioning studies is the

A)strength of the CR.
B)strength of the UR.
C)organism's reinforcement rate.
D)organism's response rate.

Question 68

According to Skinner, a stimulus is a reinforcer if it

A)reduces a biological need.
B)induces a biological need.
C)increases the tendency to make a particular response.
D)decreases the tendency to make a particular response.

Question 69

You are watching a pigeon pecking a disk in a small chamber. A cumulative recorder is connected to the disk. While you are watching, the pigeon is pecking at a slow, steady rate. Based on this information, you can predict that the line on the cumulative recorder will have a _____ slope.

A)steep, upward
B)shallow, upward
C)shallow, downward
D)steep, downward

Question 70

Nicolas has autistic disorder and is mute. A therapist working with Nicolas initially gave him a piece of chocolate any time he made a sound with his lips. This slowly changed until Nicolas only received a piece of chocolate for saying complete words, and eventually only for saying complete sentences. In this example, Nicolas developed speech skills through the use of ​

A)classical conditioning.
B)modeling.
C)shaping.
D)negative reinforcement.

Question 71

The type of learning in which voluntary responses come to be controlled by their consequences is ​

A)observational learning.
B)classical conditioning.
C)operant conditioning.
D)reinforcement.

Question 72

A small enclosure used by psychologists to study learning in which an animal can make a specific response that is recorded while the consequences are systematically controlled is known as a ​

A)Watson maze.
B)Skinner box.
C)classical conditioning chamber.
D)cumulative recorder.

Question 73

Cassie asked her father for a candy bar at the grocery store, and her father bought her the candy bar. If Cassie asks for more candy bars in the future, the candy bar has acted as a ​

A)discriminative stimulus.
B)reinforcer.
C)conditioned response.
D)conditioned stimulus.

Question 74

Learning to ride a bicycle is MOST likely acquired via the process of

A)classical conditioning.
B)shaping.
C)spontaneous recovery.
D)innate stimulus release.

Question 75

The technique used to teach animals complex tricks, such as teaching pigeons to play ping-pong, is ​

A)respondent conditioning.
B)continuous reinforcement.
C)programming.
D)shaping.

Question 76

In a Skinner box, the cumulative recorder ​

A)permits the experimenter to control the reinforcement contingencies.
B)provides a complete record of everything the animal does.
C)delivers the reinforcers.
D)creates a graphic record of operant responding as a function of time.

Question 77

Operant responses are typically established through a gradual process in which closer and closer approximations of the desired response are reinforced. This process is called ​

A)modeling.
B)shaping.
C)discrimination.
D)learning.

Question 78

A circus trainer wants to train a cat to pull a rope as part of an animal act. The probability that the cat will just pull a rope is very low. Which of the following techniques would be the BEST choice to help the cat learn to emit the desired response?

A)S haping
B)S timulus generalization
C)E xtinction
D)S timulus discrimination

Question 79

In a cumulative record of responses from a Skinner box, a steep slope in the line indicates ​

A)poorly planned reinforcement contingencies.
B)slow responding taking place.
C)fast responding taking place.
D)extinction has occurred.

Question 80

The gradual disappearance of an operant response that is no longer being reinforced is called ​

A)extinction.
B)unconditioning.
C)conditioned forgetting.
D)spontaneous remission.