Deck 7: Behavior and Its Consequences

Question 1

When psychologists characterize behavior as being controlled by its consequences, they are referring to a principle of

A) classical conditioning.
B) nonassociative learning.
C) instrumental conditioning.
D) observational learning.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The modern "synthetic" view of response learning argues that all learning is

A) actually S-O learning.
B) actually S-S learning.
C) a combination of cognitive and behavioral mechanisms.
D) a combination of behavioral, cognitive, and evolutionary mechanisms.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Modern learning theorists assume that

A) response learning and stimulus learning co-occur naturally.
B) response learning occurs naturally, and stimulus learning sometimes co-occurs.
C) stimulus learning occurs naturally, and response learning sometimes co-occurs.
D) cognitive learning occurs naturally, and both stimulus and response learning sometimes co-occur.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The statement "Food is reinforcing because it ends hunger pains" is aligned with _______ theories because _______.

A) Thorndike's; annoyance is avoided
B) Hull's; the event is satisfying
C) Hull's; a biological need is being met
D) Tolman's; food motivates behavior

Question 5

Guthrie proposed that instrumental learning

A) occurs because the stimulus and response are contiguous.
B) does not require reinforcement to produce a learned association when the stimuli and responses are contiguous.
C) requires only one trial with appropriate reinforcement to create an association.
D) requires inhibition to form between irrelevant stimulus elements and the response for the stimulus to gain full control.

Question 6

Which statement below is not one of the assumptions of Guthrie's instrumental learning approach?

A) The S-R association forms due to the contiguity of the two events.
B) The instrumental association is learned in a single training trial.
C) Reinforcement is the necessary and sufficient condition for learning to occur.
D) Only some of the stimulus elements become associated with the response on a training trial.

Question 7

Despite having been reinforced for correctly manipulating a lock (i.e., opening it successfully), you still have trouble opening it, and you keep trying different strategies. Which statement about this situation is correct?

A) According to Guthrie, you have not had enough reinforcement of the appropriate response.
B) According to Thorndike, opening the lock produces as much annoyance as its being open produces satisfaction.
C) According to Guthrie, you perform the procedure differently each time because the various stimuli are different each time.
D) According to Tolman, each time you approach the lock your goals are subtly different because you approach it from different angles.

Question 8

Which scenario illustrates Guthrie's assumption as to why reinforcement facilitates instrumental learning?

A) Highly salient stimuli, like reinforcers, reduce interference from competing behaviors by conditioning them to a different stimulus context.
B) A biologically significant and valued event stamps in or strengthens the connection between behavior and outcome.
C) For the first event that occurs following a behavior, both its contiguity and salience result in a clear and complete association in just one trial.
D) A unique and stronger connection is created between the linked response node and the stimulus node than between other response and stimulus nodes.

Question 9

Guthrie and Horton's attempt to demonstrate that cats could solve Thorndike's puzzle box problem via contiguity illustrated instead that

A) the researcher's presence in the room pitted a powerful social reinforcer against the food, thereby preventing cats from solving the problem due to outcome competition.
B) confinement is actually an innate trigger for escape behaviors (e.g., digging, clawing, pawing, head and body butting) that enabled the animal to escape without learning anything about the puzzle.
C) cats make poor research subjects because it is difficult to find foods they value as rewards.
D) the researchers had accidentally and unknowingly elicited an innate response that coincidentally solved the puzzle box problem.

Question 10

Estes' stimulus sampling theory is a _______ approach.

A) mathematical, configural
B) mathematical, stimulus-element
C) cognitive, configural stimulus
D) cognitive, stimulus-element

Question 11

Tolman is best known for his argument that

A) reinforcement and R-O associations produce the strongest learning.
B) behaviors learned by experience are more adaptive than inherited behaviors.
C) behavior is inherently flexible and goal-oriented.
D) reinforcement is more powerful than punishment as a way to change behavior.

Question 12

In a series of studies examining maze learning in animals, Tolman concluded that the animals tended to learn

A) where to go to get rewarded, rather than the particular response that resulted in the reward.
B) the particular response that resulted in the reward, rather than where to go to get rewarded.
C) about the different reward options and demonstrated individual differences in terms of the preferred reinforcer.
D) how to produce the most efficient response to obtain the reward and avoid wasted effort.

Question 13

According to Tolman's latent learning experiments, a child could learn the route from home to school

A) only by walking the route and learning the sequence of turns.
B) by walking to school, riding to school, or by any other mode that would allow the child to learn the location of the school or the sequence of turns.
C) only by being rewarded after every successful trip.
D) by completing one successful trip and arriving on time.

Question 14

The "learning/performance distinction" refers to

A) the behavioral differences in responding during acquisition (e.g., mistakes mixed with accurate responses) versus association formation (e.g., accurate responses without errors).
B) the relationship between motivation (reward or punishment) and behavior, with motivation necessary for performance but not for learning.
C) the classification system that clarifies which behaviors are inherited (performance) and which behaviors are acquired as a result of experience (learning).
D) the relationship between S-O and R-O conditioning, in which S-O associations produce learning and R-O associations produce performance.

Question 15

Which scenario illustrates the learning/performance distinction?

A) Jessica, who is studying both Spanish and French, frequently inserts French words into her Spanish conversations and Spanish words into her French conversations.
B) Nick, who his attending his tenth-year year class reunion at homecoming, finds that he has difficulty driving around his college campus and the town because he has forgotten some of the names of the streets and buildings.
C) Despite numerous college visits, scholarship offers, and a thorough analysis of program options, Ben, a high school senior, is still undecided about which college to attend.
D) Marta, a straight-A student taking one class for a grade of "pass" or fail," knows the material very well but only puts in enough work on her papers to pass the course.

Question 16

Which statement is false?

A) Guthrie and Tolman claimed that instrumental learning results from contiguity of behavior and outcomes.
B) Thorndike and Guthrie claimed that instrumental learning involves S-R associations.
C) Tolman and Thorndike claimed that reward reduces interference from competing behaviors because it changes the situation.
D) According to Hull, behavior is intended to reducing drive, regardless of learning.

Question 17

Skinner assumed that when reinforcers are not made contingent on behavior,

A) superstitious behaviors are likely to develop.
B) subjects are likely to be more motivated than when reinforcers are absent.
C) they act as occasion setters and facilitate learning.
D) they reduce competing behaviors and enhance attention.

Question 18

Stimulus control resembles the classical conditioning phenomenon of

A) generalization effects.
B) occasion setting.
C) interference effects.
D) motivation level.

Question 19

Which scenario illustrates the fading procedure?

A) The subject receives a reinforcer every time it makes the correct response until the behavior is learned, and then reinforcers are programmed to gradually occur less frequently.
B) The researcher gradually increases the accuracy and precision-of-execution requirements of the response, but keeps delivering the same reward to the subject.
C) The trainer first trains the dog to perform a "down-stay" and then gradually increases the amount of time the dog must remain in the down position, regardless of distractions.
D) The trainer first trains the dog to sit using a verbal command. Once this is learned, the trainer gradually gives the "sit" command less loudly while simultaneously increasing hand movements to signal "sit."

Question 20

The procedure of fading involves a gradual

A) increase and decrease in the S^D intensity to determine the level at which the stimulus is most salient.
B) decrease in the amount of reinforcement so that the subject has difficulty recognizing when extinction begins.
C) decrease in the intensity of one stimulus in a compound so that the second stimulus will regulate behavior.
D) increase in the CS and US intensity as training proceeds in order to cause the development of a stronger-than-normal association.

Question 21

Skinner assumed that stimulus control

A) enables the signal to elicit the operant response.
B) enables the signal to set the occasion for the reinforcement of voluntary responding.
C) results in a causal association provided that the researcher, and not the subject, controls the signal's occurrence and outcome.
D) produces a stronger association than that produced by a classical contingency.

Question 22

In an operant conditioning procedure, which variable below has the least control over the nature of the operant that is produced?

A) Researcher
B) Subject
C) Discriminative stimulus
D) Reinforcer

Question 23

A subject learns that when the ceiling light is flashing, lever pressing is rewarded, but when the chamber is dimly but continuously illuminated, lever pressing is not rewarded. Here, the flashing light is the

A) faded stimulus.
B) S^D.
C) S^.
D) sampled stimulus.

Question 24

A subject learns that when the ceiling light is flashing, lever pressing is rewarded, but when the chamber is dimly but continuously illuminated, lever pressing is not rewarded. Here, the dim, continuously illuminated ceiling light is the

A) faded stimulus.
B) sampled stimulus.
C) S^D.
D) S^.

Question 25

In learning terms, rewards like gold stars and trophies are characterized as

A) S^.
B) S^D.
C) conditioned reinforcers.
D) primary reinforcers.

Question 26

In learning terms, events like food, oxygen, water, and sex are characterized as

A) S^.
B) S^D.
C) conditioned reinforcers.
D) primary reinforcers.

Question 27

Reinforcers that have intrinsic value are called _______, whereas reinforcers that have to acquire value are called _______.

A) primary; secondary
B) secondary; primary
C) S^; S^D
D) S^D; S^

Question 28

Which statement about reinforcers is false?

A) The value of an instrumental conditioned reinforcer is produced by classical conditioning.
B) Like the behavior of nonhuman animals, most human behavior is directly reinforced by primary reinforcers.
C) Conditioned reinforcers make learning more likely when there is a delay between a behavior and a primary reward.
D) In addition to events like lights, bells, and money, a behavior can also be a conditioned reinforcer.
E) Conditioned reinforcers boost performance that is maintained at a low level by primary reinforcement.

Question 29

In order to get a reward, a rat must first walk across a seesaw to get a rope, pull on a rope to ring a bell which accompanies the opening of a tunnel, walk through the tunnel, and finally climb over a wall to obtain food on the other side. In this scenario, walking through the tunnel serves as the _______ for ringing the bell, and it serves as the _______ for climbing over the wall.

A) conditioned reinforcer; primary reinforcer
B) primary reinforcer; conditioned reinforcer
C) conditioned reinforcer; S^D
D) occasion setter; conditioned reinforcer

Question 30

Which scenario illustrates a schedule of reinforcement?

A) Subjects are trained according to feature-positive rather than feature-negative discrimination.
B) One group of subjects is trained only in the morning and one group is trained only in the afternoon.
C) Subjects receive 12 training trials per day, with each of the trials spaced one minute apart.
D) Subjects that perform a specific behavior receive a particular outcome 75% of the time the behavior occurs.

Question 31

Researchers use a cumulative recorder to

A) quickly deliver a primary reinforcer to the subject following completion of the target behavior.
B) measure the rate of responding on different schedules of reinforcement.
C) gradually increase the response requirement in an instrumental conditioning study.
D) fade an occasion setter into or out of the discrimination training procedure.

Question 32

A pigeon pecks a red key and is reinforced after pecking either 5 times, 10 times, 15 times, 25 times, 30 times, or 40 times, with these behavior requirements arranged in random order. This is an a(n) _______ schedule.

A) FI
B) VI
C) FR
D) VR

Question 33

Getting an A on a test is an outcome of a _____ schedule.

A) FI
B) VI
C) FR
D) VR

Question 34

A local health food store has a 30% off sale on the first Monday of each month. Customers who do not purchase their vitamins and nutritional supplements at the monthly sale must wait to make their purchases until the following month. Buying supplements at a discount is on a _______ schedule.

A) fixed interval
B) fixed ratio
C) variable interval
D) variable ratio

Question 35

A gourmet cook likes wild mushrooms and has identified six places on his property where they grow during mushroom season. Once the mushrooms have been picked, new mushrooms will eventually appear, depending on the weather. Thus, he checks his patches daily. His patch-checking behavior is on a _______ schedule.

A) fixed interval
B) fixed ratio
C) variable interval
D) variable ratio

Question 36

In a study of various medical labs in a certain city, researchers find that some labs have higher error rates than others for reading slides from a variety of medical tests. The researchers find that labs with the highest error rates pay slide readers a flat fee per slide, rather than by the hour. To reduce the high error rates, the labs should be advised to pay slide readers according to a _______ schedule rather than a _______ schedule.

A) FR; VR
B) FR; FI
C) FI; VI
D) FI; FR

Question 37

Hawks are not successful every time they hunt; in fact, many do not survive beyond their first year of life because they do not develop sufficient hunting skills. Because hawks are never certain when they will catch something to eat, they hunt continuously to increase the chance that they will capture prey. The high rate of hunting in hawks is the product of a _______ schedule.

A) fixed interval
B) fixed ratio
C) variable interval
D) variable ratio

Question 38

A postreinforcement pause is most likely seen in a subject trained according to a _______ schedule.

A) fixed interval
B) fixed ratio
C) variable interval
D) variable ratio

Question 39

A scalloping pattern of responding is most likely seen in a subject trained according to a _______ schedule.

A) fixed interval
B) fixed ratio
C) variable interval
D) variable ratio

Question 40

Scalloping is said to occur in situations in which

A) the occurrence of reinforcement is infrequent.
B) the passage of time becomes an S^D for responding.
C) the more the subject responds, the sooner the reward is offered.
D) the subject collects enough rewards such that it is no longer willing to respond.

Question 41

Which statement about interval and ratio schedules is false?

A) The rate of responding on interval schedules has no effect on the rate of reinforcement.
B) The rate of responding on ratio schedules is generally higher and faster than on interval schedules.
C) The rate of responding is less variable on interval schedules than on ratio schedules.
D) The highest rates of responding generally occur on the variable interval or ratio schedules rather than on the fixed interval or ratio schedules.

Question 42

A type of procedure often used to study choice behavior in operant and economic research uses several different schedules, with each one cued by a distinct stimulus. These schedules are simultaneously functional and are referred to collectively as a _______ schedule.

A) tandem
B) multiple
C) mixed
D) concurrent

Question 43

A procedure often used to study preferences or relative reinforcement effects in operant and economic research uses several different schedules, each of which is cued by a distinct stimulus, with only one present at a given time. This procedure for studying schedule preferences uses a _______ schedule.

A) tandem
B) multiple
C) mixed
D) concurrent

Question 44

A subject receives a series of schedules that are presented one at a time in a fixed order. The subject must complete the schedule requirement in each component before the next schedule begins. When it completes the schedule requirement on the last component, the subject then receives the reinforcement. This procedure uses a _______ schedule.

A) tandem
B) multiple
C) mixed
D) chained

Question 45

The matching law assumes that a subject's response rate will be proportional to the

A) rate of reinforcement.
B) duration of the session.
C) number of different cued schedules.
D) similarity of the occasion setters.

Question 46

According to the matching law, a person in a relationship will be more likely to cheat when

A) the person becomes habituated to reinforcement from their partner.
B) reinforcement from other people matches that of their partner.
C) reinforcement from their partner decreases or reinforcement from others increases.
D) the person can receive reinforcement only in the limited environment of home.

Question 47

Imagine that even though the rate of reinforcement from your partner increases, you still might be prone to cheating. This aspect of behavior is explained or described by which aspect of the quantitative matching law?

A) K
B) R_O
C) B1
D) K × R1

Question 48

Impulsiveness is most likely to occur

A) when animals, but not humans, are given choices between outcomes.
B) when primary, but not conditioned, rewards are used.
C) when outcomes occur shortly after choice behavior.
D) when outcomes are expected but are not physically present.

Question 49

Impulsive organisms show greater _______ than other organisms.

A) levels of stimulus control
B) delay discounting
C) inability to compare rewards over time
D response rates

Question 50

Precommitment strategies, use of secondary reinforcers, and responses that hasten delayed rewards are examples of the use of _______ to combat impulsiveness.

A) behavioral economics
B) applied matching law
C) nudging
D) schedules of reinforcement

Question 51

Which scenario is not an application of the matching law to ultimately reduce the amount of time a child spends playing computer games.

A) Requiring increasingly more weekly chores for every additional 30 minutes the child wants to be at the computer
B) Spending time interacting with the child in ways that compete with the attractiveness of the computer (e.g., going to a ball game, practicing soccer moves, playing a board game)
C) Reducing the number of different games on the computer so that they all become boring to the child
D) Preventing the child from playing any game other than computer games for a week, thus reducing the reinforcing capacity of the computer games

Question 52

Precommitment involves

A) reducing the size of a reward to reduce impulsiveness.
B) using willpower to control impulsive urges.
C) making a choice long before a reward is available.
D) counterconditioning one's preferences.

Question 53

Whenever the price of hamburger rises too much, you are willing to buy hotdogs for your summer picnics. From a behavioral economics perspective, hamburgers and hotdogs would be considered

A) complements.
B) independents.
C) substitutes.
D) alternatives.

Question 54

A mother of young children plans to serve hot cider and cookies at a children's party. However, when she gets to the grocery store, she finds that a jug of cider is much more expensive than a canister of hot chocolate mix. She decides to purchase the canister of hot chocolate mix, because the hot chocolate can serve as a(n) _______ and demand is _______.

A) substitute; elastic.
B) complement; elastic.
C) independent; elastic.
D) substitute; inelastic.

Question 55

A student finds that his purchase of drawing pencils for art class is directly related to the amount of art paper he buys. According to behavioral economics, these art supplies would be classified as

A) complements.
B) independents.
C) substitutes.
D) alternatives.

Question 56

Commodities are most likely to show inelasticity when they are

A) independents.
B) necessities.
C) luxuries.
D) dependents.

Question 57

A hungry and thirsty rat spends 40% of its time lever pressing for food and 60% of its time lever pressing for water. Because it is pressing more for water, water appears to be more reinforcing than food. What additional factors need to be considered, according to the field of behavioral economics?

A) Food and water are not necessarily substitutable and the demand for each can change within a session.
B) The prices of food and water (i.e., the effort required to get one or the other) can vary.
C) Food and water each has a different capacity to reinforce.
D) No additional factors need to be considered, since food and water, like most primary reinforcers, are of more or less equal value and inelastic under equal states of drive.

Question 58

Skinner's definition of a reinforcer and the matching law both can be characterized as circular because

A) the subjects determine what is reinforcing and which schedule options they prefer.
B) they appeal to internal, cognitive factors such as desire or liking (reward) and choice or self-control (matching).
C) they describe the empirical relationship between the behavior and the outcome, but not why or how a reinforcer and the matching take place.
D) the researcher selects which outcomes and schedules will be used in the experiment.

Question 59

Sydney spends about as much time studying as she does with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend starts to demand more time, so she breaks up with him and spends that time studying. From the perspective of behavior regulation theory, which statement best explains Sydney's choice?

A) The matching law predicted the breakup, since studying was more valuable than relationship.
B) Sydney could no longer maintain her bliss point while in the relationship.
C) Studying was an elastic commodity.
D) Sydney's academic performance and her boyfriend were complements.

Question 60

According to Hull's theory of reinforcement,

A) unfulfilled biological needs are synonymous with Drive.
B) biological needs are synonymous with Drive, and they provide reinforcement.
C) biological needs are synonymous with Drive, and their reduction provides reinforcement.
D) Drive reduction is reinforcing and strengthens responding, even if the drive isn't necessarily biological.

Question 61

Which statement below about the theoretical construct called "Drive" is correct?

A) It is a historical construct associated with Hull, but it proved inadequate to explain reinforcement.
B) Though not necessarily associated with an explanation for reinforcement, it is still used today because it was separated from the idea that it is specifically a biological need that needs to be reduced.
C) It is still viewed as an adequate explanation for reinforcement, but only with primary reinforcers that do actually reduce biological needs.
D) It is currently at least as influential as the Premack principle.

Question 62

Premack's principle asserts that

A) primary reinforcers and conditioned reinforcers are equally effective in modifying behavior.
B) reducing the level of drive increases the reinforcement value of an outcome.
C) performing one behavior can be used to reinforce or punish another behavior.
D) self-control is more likely when small or conditioned reinforcers are used in a training procedure.

Question 63

Which scenario best illustrates the Premack principle?

A) A child is paid five dollars for every A on her report card, three dollars for every B, and one dollar for every
B) In a police search operation, a police dog is allowed to play with its favorite toy after it has successfully found the concealed drugs.
C) An exemplary employee is given the employee-of-the-month award and featured in the company's newsletter.
D) A child blinks repeatedly after receiving eye drops to relieve an irritated eye.

Question 64

Premack assumed that preferred behaviors

A) require less effort than nonpreferred behaviors.
B) fulfill basic needs and produce immediate reinforcement.
C) are produced more frequently or for longer durations than other behaviors.
D) differ across species, but are highly similar for all members of a given species.

Question 65

Johnny earns some money for reporting video game bugs to developers. He spends 45% of his day playing video games, 25% of his day chatting with friends, 20% of his day working on academics, and the rest of the time taking care of basic needs. Unbeknownst to him, his girlfriend (a double major in psychology and electrical engineering) has surreptitiously jammed his cell phone's chat app and unblocks it and sends him chat messages only when he is playing video games. From the perspective of learning theory, what is she trying to accomplish?

A) She is trying to get Johnny to earn more money.
B) She is trying to get Johnny to chat more.
C) She is trying to get Johnny to play games less.
D) She is trying to help Johnny reach his bliss point.

Question 66

The observation that reinforcement contingencies always deprive an organism of the chance to engage in a behavior was fundamental in the development of

A) the Premack principle.
B) behavioral economics.
C) behavioral regulation theory.
D) the minimum distance model.

Question 67

A "bliss point" is said to occur when two behaviors

A) are substitutes or show the same level of preference.
B) are produced at their preferred rate or duration.
C) occur less than the subject prefers, but in proportion to their value.
D) occur at their baseline rates

Question 68

Which statement about the minimum distance model and the matching law is accurate?

A) The minimum distance model predicts response rates on ratio schedules better, but the matching law is a better predictor of response rates on interval schedules.
B) They perform equally well on variable schedules.
C) Neither is as accurate as the laws derived from behavioral economics.
D) The matching law is just as accurate as the minimum distance model when factors are added to account for melioration.

Question 69

As the response requirement for a behavior is increased steadily,

A) responding first increases and then decreases, as expected by the matching law.
B) responding decreases steadily with inelastic commodities, as expected by behavioral economics.
C) responding first increases and then decreases, as expected by the minimum distance model.
D) responding increases consistently to the point where it is limited by the physical capabilities of the organism, at which point it remains stable, as predicted by the matching law.

Question 70

Which statement about "selection by consequences" is false?

A) Reinforcement is assumed to work like evolution: Both weed out behaviors that are not successful or useful.
B) Complex behaviors, like differences among species, may result from behavioral variations and a selection process that occurs during the lifetime of the organism.
C) As a result of psychology's reconsideration of the role of evolution, the "behavioral selection by consequences" approach is increasingly replacing traditional notions of reinforcement.
D) Behavioral selection by consequences, like evolution, does not require a causal agent for the production of complex and diverse behaviors.

Question 71

Compare and contrast the theoretical approaches to reinforcement developed by Edward Thorndike and Edwin Guthrie.

Question 72

From the perspective of Thorndike, why would a student continue to attend the lectures in a course in which the student is doing poorly?

Question 73

What are the three important conclusions about instrumental learning that were suggested by Tolman's latent-learning experiment?

Question 74

Explain what researchers mean by the "learning/performance" distinction in instrumental learning and the role of reinforcement in those processes.

Question 75

Doctors and radiology technicians must be able to recognize cancer cells among other tissue structures in X-rays. Describe how you might use errorless discrimination learning to help teach medical professional the difference between scans with and without cancer.

Question 76

Compare and contrast a primary reinforcer and a conditioned reinforcer. Since primary reinforcers can produce effective learning the very first time they are used, explain why conditioned reinforcers are still important or useful.

Question 77

You have used your mother's brownies to shape your roommate to do the dishes. Your brownie supply is getting low. How can you reinforce your roommate to continue to clean the dishes after every meal with this limited suppy, and why will you do it that way?

Question 78

Identify and explain a behavior chain that leads to a primary reinforcer in your life, including at least three links. Clearly identify the responses (R) and the consequences (C).

Question 79

A behavior analyst states that cheating behavior in romantic relationships is predicted by the matching law. Therefore, this analyst predicts that as the ratio of reinforcement received from you by your partner decreases relative to the reinforcement received from another person, the amount of time your partner spends with the other person will increase. What important assumptions must the behavior analyst be making?

Question 80

How is the tendency to choose a small immediate reward over a larger delayed reward explained?