Deck 4: Theories of Conditioning

Question 1

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, on each CS-US conditioning trial, the _______ becomes _______ surprising.

A) CS; less
B) US; less
C) CS; more
D) US; more

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, the US becomes less effective on each subsequent conditioning trial because the subject

A) experiences increasing response fatigue.
B) habituates to the US.
C) becomes sensitized to the US.
D) predicts the occurrence of the US more successfully.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

When we examine the process of learning, we typically see

A) the greatest gains in associative strength made late in training.
B) the greatest gains in associative strength made early in training.
C) slow but equivalent gains in associative strength throughout training.
D) an abrupt transition from highly variable responding to highly precise responding.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In the Rescorla-Wagner model, the symbol _______ is used to refer to the associative strength or the predictive value of the CS.

A) 
B) 
C) 
D) V

Question 5

In the Rescorla-Wagner model, the symbol _______ is used to refer to change in associative strength on each successive conditioning trial.

A) 
B) 
C) 
D) V

Question 6

In the Rescorla-Wagner model, the symbols _______ and _______ are used to refer to the salience of the CS and US, respectively.

A) ; 
B) ; 
C) ; 
D) ; 

Question 7

The Rescorla-Wagner model proposes that changes in associative strength can be predicted by using the formula

A) V = ( + ) (  V).
B) V = ( - ) (V - ).
C) V = (  ) (  V).
D) V = (  ) ( - V).

Question 8

The Rescorla-Wagner model predicts

A) the rate of acquisition of associative strength, and the amount that will accrue to each stimulus.
B) the effects of self- and retrieval-generated long-term memory priming.
C) the relative change in associative strength for each stimulus on a trial-by-trial basis, and the effects of stimulus configuration.
D) None of the above

Question 9

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, _______ determines the amount that can be learned.

A) CS salience
B) US salience
C) US intensity
D) CS intensity

Question 10

Rescorla and Wagner used the term V to represent

A) the influence of the context on conditioning.
B) the influence of all stimuli present on conditioning.
C) the total amount of learning that can occur due to CS salience, US salience, CS intensity, and US intensity.
D) the total number of training trials necessary for learning to reach asymptote.

Question 11

The Rescorla-Wagner model predicts the blocking phenomenon because _______ on the compound conditioning trials.

A) V = 
B)  = 
C)  = 
D)  = 

Question 12

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model's explanation of blocking,

A) some excitatory conditioning occurs on the first compound conditioning trial, but after that trial the added element develops inhibitory associative strength.
B) some excitatory conditioning occurs on the first compound conditioning trial, but after that trial no further associative strength accrues to the added element.
C) very little conditioning occurs on the first or any subsequent trials, as the US cannot support any more associative strength to be gained by either stimulus in the compound.
D) inhibitory conditioning begins to occur to the added element on the first compound conditioning trial and continues to accrue, in turn preventing any excitatory associative strength from accruing to the compound.

Question 13

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, if the US intensity is increased in the second phase of conditioning in a blocking experiment when L is added to a previously conditioned T to form the new compound LT, then

A) ΣV_LT > .
B) ΣV_LT < .
C)   > 
D)   < 

Question 14

Based on the Rescorla-Wagner model, if the US intensity is increased in the second phase of conditioning, when L is added to a previously conditioned T in a blocking experiment, then the

A) salience of the T will be so much greater than that of the newly added L that the T will continue to accrue all of associative strength, preventing blocking.
B) salience of the new L will be so much greater (due to the surprising change of the US) that CS_L will rob the T of its acquired associative strength on every subsequent conditioning trial until L has gained all available associative strength
C) surprising change in the US will double salience of L, causing it to accrue all of the additional associative strength
D) surprising change in the US increases the available associative strength, and thus both L and T will gain additional associative strength and prevent blocking

Question 15

The Rescorla-Wagner model predicts that extinction occurs because the

A) context gains inhibitory strength during each trial that it is presented along with the US.
B) context gains inhibitory strength during each trial that the CS is presented without the US.
C) CS loses excitatory strength during each trial that it is presented without the US.
D) presentation of the CS without the US causes the association to be forgotten.

Question 16

If you present A+ (US trials) and AB (no US trials), the Rescorla-Wagner model predicts that

A) A will block
B) B will acquire a negative associative strength.
C) A will extinguish more on these AB trials than if it had been presented alone on no-US trials.
D) A will become half as excitatory and B will become half as inhibitory as they would be if each stimulus were presented separately on shock versus no-shock trials.

Question 17

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, an inhibitor will come to show conditioned responding less rapidly in a retardation test, relative to a novel CS, because the inhibitor

A) will have a smaller alpha.
B) will have a bigger alpha.
C) will have a negative associative strength to overcome before it can become positive.
D) predicts the US less well than the context does, so its alpha changes slowly.

Question 18

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, an inhibitor will suppress responding to an excitor because

A) it nullifies the excitor's alpha.
B) lambda will be zero.
C) it blocks the excitor's association.
D) the negative associative strength of the inhibitor subtracts from the positive associative strength of the excitor.

Question 19

A light is fully conditioned with a US that has a lambda = 2, and a tone is fully conditioned with a US that has a lambda = 1. The light and tone are then placed in compound and extinguished. According to the Rescorla-Wagner model's assumptions about lambda,

A) the tone and light will become more inhibitory than they would be if either stimulus were extinguished separately.
B) the tone and light will become less inhibitory than they would be if either stimulus were extinguished separately.
C) the tone will become more inhibitory than the light.
D) the light will become more inhibitory than the tone.

Question 20

Which statement about the Rescorla-Wagner model's predictions is false?

A) Extinction is the equivalent of unlearning, in that the associative strength of the extinguished CS returns to zero.
B) Spontaneous recovery cannot occur; that is, whenever a subject stops responding during extinction, there should be no subsequent spontaneous recovery.
C) Reacquisition of an extinguished excitatory association should occur at a faster rate and with fewer trials as compared to acquisition of the association during original conditioning.
D) Acquisition of inhibitory strength will occur at the same rate and with the same number of trials for an extinguished excitatory CS and a different neutral CS.

Question 21

Two different stimuli (a light and a tone) are separately turned into conditioned inhibitors for an excitatory food stimulus (signaled by a buzzer). Then light and tone are put in compound and presented together without food for many trials. The Rescorla-Wagner model would predict that on each conditioning trial,

A) the tone will become less inhibitory as the light becomes more inhibitory.
B) the light will become less inhibitory as the tone becomes more inhibitory.
C) both the light and the tone will become more inhibitory until both are twice as inhibitory as they were at the start of training.
D) both light and tone will lose inhibition.

Question 22

Which statement about the Rescorla-Wagner model is false.

A) It accounts for many conditioning phenomena using few variables.
B) It is widely regarded as important, but its falsifiability has been questioned.
C) It helped to conceptualize the relatively vague idea of information value in the form of surprise.
D) It has organized a large number of effects as being related to surprise.

Question 23

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, protection from extinction is most likely to occur when

A) two separately conditioned inhibitory CSs are subsequently put in compound and more extinction trials are presented.
B) two separately conditioned excitatory CSs are subsequently put in compound and extinction trials are presented.
C) an excitatory and an inhibitory CS are separately conditioned, and then put in compound and extinguished.
D) when a strongly conditioned CS is extinguished in compound with a weakly conditioned CS.

Question 24

Which two phenomena are most similar, as explained by the Rescorla-Wagner model?

A) Blocking and conditioned inhibition
B) Extinction and contingency
C) Protection from extinction and blocking
D) Positive and negative patterning

Question 25

A, B, and C are conditioned to an asymptote. Then A and B are compounded on trials without the US (AB-no US) and C is presented alone, without the US (C-no US). Which will undergo the greater amount of extinction according to the Rescorla-Wagner model?

A) C, then A, then B
B) C, then B, then A
C) A and B, then C
D) At first C, but A and B will extinguish more quickly on later trials.

Question 26

From the Rescorla-Wagner perspective, the best way to extinguish the fears of a person who is afraid of both snakes and spiders would be to

A) teach the person to relax and then present spiders while he maintains the relaxed state. Once the fear of spiders is extinguished, perform the same procedure with snakes.
B) teach the person to relax and then present both spiders and snakes while he maintains the relaxed state.
C) have the person interact with spiders, and then repeat this procedure with the snakes.
D) have the person interact with spiders and snakes together.

Question 27

A gardener charges $25 per customer to mow lawns. For one year he cuts the grass at the homes of two neighbors. At the end of the year the neighbors decide to share one house, sell the other, and hire the gardener to mow only one lawn. According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, the gardener will

A) initially expect to be paid $50, but eventually will come to expect only $25.
B) expect to be paid $25 now that they have only one lawn.
C) initially expect to be paid $25, but eventually will expect to be paid $50.
D) initially expect to be paid $25, but eventually will expect to be paid $40.

Question 28

A researcher creates a compound of two fully and separately conditioned stimuli. She then presents the compound along with a neutral stimulus and continues to present the same outcome for the three stimuli that she had presented with the compound alone. According to the Rescorla-Wagner model,

A) the two fully conditioned stimuli will lose excitation, while the neutral stimulus will gain excitation.
B) the two fully conditioned stimuli will lose excitation, while the neutral stimulus will gain inhibition.
C) all three stimuli will become more excitatory than they would be if conditioned separately.
D) all three stimuli will become inhibitory, but less so than if they were conditioned separately.

Question 29

The best description of the Rescorla-Wagner model's characterization of inhibition is that it is a signal

A) for the absence of the US.
B) for a decrease in US magnitude.
C) that is no better or worse a predictor of the US than other co-occurring stimuli.
D) that predicts nothing.

Question 30

An animal subject is removed from its home cage in a colony room and placed in a black box in a training room. Half of the floor of the box is a metal grid and half is made of solid wood. In which of the following situations would you expect the least amount of conditioned inhibition to develop?

A) The subject receives light + shock pairings on the metal grid floor, and tone + no shock on the wood floor.
B) The subject receives shock pairings on the metal grid floor, and tone + no shock on the wood floor.
C) The subject receives light + shock pairings on the metal grid floor, and receives tone + no shock in its holding cage in the training room.
D) The subject receives light + shock pairings on the metal grid floor, and tone + no shock in its home cage in the colony room.

Question 31

Contextual stimuli are likely to be most predictive of the US when the contingency between the CS and US is

A) very positive.
B) slightly positive.
C) zero.
D) negative

Question 32

The Rescorla-Wagner model predicts that inhibition will form when

A) the US is expected.
B) the US is expected but does not occur.
C) less US occurs than is expected.
D) more US occurs than is expected.

Question 33

Comparator models assume that

A) the CS and context compete for associations.
B) the context competes with the CS for associations, but not vice versa.
C) the context and CS do not compete for associations.
D) contingency effects depend on learning, not performance.

Question 34

Although the Rescorla-Wagner model predicts a reduction of conditioned inhibition for all of the following situations, there is no empirical evidence for the model's predictions when the inhibitory CS is presented

A) without the US during extinction.
B) with the conditioning US.
C) with another inhibitory CS during conditioning.
D) with a neutral CS and the conditioning US.

Question 35

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, if a novel CS is repeatedly presented without any US, the associative strength of that CS should

A) become inhibitory.
B) become excitatory.
C) remain neutral or zero.
D) be unchanged, although alpha for the CS will be reduced.

Question 36

A preexposed CS conditions more slowly than a novel CS. How does the Rescorla-Wagner model account for this result?

A) It assumes alpha goes down during preexposure.
B) It assumes beta goes down during preexposure.
C) It cannot account for this result.
D) It assumes that lambda is initially smaller.

Question 37

If A perfectly predicts a medium-sized US, it will block B unless the US is increased, and then we can observe unblocking. However, if the organism experiences A and B together with the same moderate US, the larger US will no longer produce unblocking when it is paired with AB. How well does that effect support the Rescorla-Wagner model?

A) This effect is predicted by and strongly supports the Rescorla-Wagner modele.
B) This effect does not support the Rescorla-Wagner model, which predicts that B should become inhibitory.
C) This effect does not support the Rescorla-Wagner model, which predicts that B should be unblocked normally.
D) This effect is predicted by and supports the Rescorla-Wagner model because lambda represents the magnitude of the US and is easily modified.

Question 38

Mackintosh's theory states that as excitatory or inhibitory conditioning proceeds, _______ also change(s) on a trial-by-trial basis.

A) 
B) 
C) 
D)  and 

Question 39

The Mackintosh model explains latent inhibition by assuming that during CS-only presentations the  value

A) remains unchanged, because the CS predicts nothing.
B) increases, because the CS predicts the US just as well as the context.
C) decreases, because the CS predicts the US just as well as the context.
D) becomes fixed, because the CS predicts no change in the US.

Question 40

When L predicts the US, it will block T when LT is paired with the US. The Mackintosh model explains that effect by assuming that

A) more attention is paid to L because it does not predict T.
B) more attention is paid to L than to T because it predicts the US better than T does.
C) more attention is paid to T than to L because it is novel, leaving less attention for processing the US.
D) T will be blocked because ΣV will equal the US.

Question 41

The Hall-Pearce negative transfer effect predicts that once a CS predicts a particular US well,

A) the subject becomes less able to learn about the CS.
B) it becomes better able to signal other similar USs.
C) the US becomes less effective.
D) the US becomes more effective.

Question 42

The Pearce-Hall model

A) makes the same predictions as the Rescorla-Wagner model, except where latent inhibition is concerned.
B) emphasizes that attention is less likely to occur as the US becomes more surprising.
C) emphasizes that attention is less likely to occur as the CS predictiveness increases.
D) emphasizes that CS and US effectiveness are equally important in determining whether conditioning will occur.

Question 43

For a rat, a light is conditioned to asymptote such that it is very strongly associated with food. The rat is then kept in a cage until he is hungry, and this time the light comes on at the same time as a tone. Which statement is correct?

A) According to the Pearce-Hall model, the rat will attend to the light.
B) According to the Mackintosh model, the rat will attend to the light.
C) According to both the Pearce-Hall and Mackintosh models, the rat will attend to the novel tone.
D) Only the Mackintosh model would consider the hunger variable.

Question 44

The Pearce-Hall and Mackintosh models make the same prediction with regard to

A) blocking and latent inhibition.
B) latent inhibition, but not blocking.
C) the attention devoted to predictive stimuli in humans.
D) the attention devoted to a CS paired with a US when they are paired on over 50% of their occurrences.

Question 45

A hybrid attention model assumes that

A) the attention needed to detect a stimulus and perform based on a learned association is different from the attention needed to learn about a stimulus.
B) the attention needed to detect a stimulus is the same as attention needed to learn about it, but learning and performance are different systems.
C) one-trial blocking is the result of exploring things already known about the US.
D) attention is based on performance and learning is based on the US.

Question 46

Which statement about the role of attention in learning is correct?

A) Recent studies have shown that attention is not as important to learning as researchers once believed.
B) Attention is the sole factor that explains learning.
C) Learning drives attention as much as attention drives learning.
D) Learning can be explained as the result of simple increases and decreases in attention.

Question 47

To the extent that learning is a memory function, it seems to take place in

A) short term memory.
B) long term memory.
C) the retrieval process.
D) sensory memory.

Question 48

A subject is most likely to link and rehearse associations in _______ memory.

A) sensory
B) short-term
C) procedural
D) long-term

Question 49

Priming refers to a situation in which a CS or US

A) is being transferred to short-term memory.
B) is currently present in long-term memory.
C) has just been transferred to long-term memory.
D) has just been transferred to sensory memory.

Question 50

The process by which an event is recalled from long-term memory and processed in short-term memory is known as _______-generated priming.

A) retrieval
B) transfer
C) self
D) episode

Question 51

An event in short-term memory is most likely to be surprising if it

A) has been generated through self-priming.
B) has been generated through retrieval priming.
C) has been generated through episode-priming.
D) is retrieved intermittently

Question 52

In Phase 1 of training, subjects receive light + shock. In Phase 2 of training, subjects receive light + tone + shock. According to Wagner's theory of learning involving memory, blocking of the tone _______ occur in Phase 2, due to interference from _______-generated priming.

A) should; self
B) should not; self
C) should; retrieval
D) should not; retrieval

Question 53

We associate events represented in short-term memory when they

A) enter short-term memory from long-term memory.
B) enter short-term memory from the senses.
C) exist in short-term memory but are not yet in long-term memory.
D) pass directly from short-term memory to long-term memory.

Question 54

In Phase 1 of training, subjects receive trials of a shock followed by a tone followed by light + shock pairings. In Phase 2 of training, subjects receive light + buzzer + shock. According to the priming model of classical conditioning, blocking of the buzzer _______ occur in Phase 2, due to _______ priming effects in Phase 1

A) should; a lack of self-generated
B) should not; a lack of self-generated
C) should; self-generated
D) should not; self-generated

Question 55

In Phase I of training, a flashing light is presented at random intervals to a subject in a black box. In Phase 2 of training, the flashing light is paired with food presentations. According to the priming model, we would expect to see _______ effects in Phase 2 due to _______-generated priming.

A) blocking; self
B) latent inhibition; self
C) blocking; retrieval
D) latent inhibition; retrieval

Question 56

The priming model assumes that

A) only the CS can be primed.
B) only the US can be primed.
C) retrieval-generated priming facilitates the formation of an association.
D) retrieval-generated priming hinders the formation of an association.

Question 57

According to the priming model, learning depends on the

A) processing of the CS in long-term memory.
B) processing of the US in long-term memory.
C) joint processing of the CS and US in long-term memory.
D) joint processing of the CS and US in short-term memory.

Question 58

Which statement about priming is supported by the evidence?

A) Latent inhibition may be due to retrieval-generated priming of the CS by the context.
B) Changing the context between training and testing results in a stronger self-generated priming effect, evidenced by less latent inhibition.
C) Self-generated priming effects are most likely to occur with long delays or gaps between CS and US.
D) The Hall-Pearce negative transfer effect is enhanced by changing the context, presumably due to retrieval-generated priming.

Question 59

According to Wagner's short-term memory theory of learning,

A) the surprisingness of the CS is just as important as the surprisingness of the US.
B) attention has no role in learning.
C) unblocking cannot be a memory issue, because the large US would overwhelm short-term memory's limited capacity.
D) any learning is possible as long as it fits in memory.

Question 60

Research on latent inhibition and habituation has demonstrated that

A) both are context specific.
B) latent inhibition is more context specific than habituation is.
C) only habituation is context specific.
D) neither is context specific.

Question 61

Modern discussions of long-term memory use the term "_______" to refer to the associations between different memory representations.

A) network
B) node
C) connection
D) prime

Question 62

Modern discussions of long-term memory use the term "_______" to refer collectively to organized groups of memory representations.

A) network
B) node
C) connection
D) prime

Question 63

According to Wagner's SOP model of conditioning, the

A) presentation of a CS or US initially activates the node to the A2 state.
B) A2 state is the highest level of activation and lasts for a long period of time.
C) node decays to the A1 state, which has a shorter duration than A2.
D) association is formed only if the CS and US nodes are in the A1 state.

Question 64

According to Wagner's SOP model of conditioning,

A) the A1 state is long in duration and analogous to long-term memory.
B) the A2 state is at a higher level of activation than A1 but it has a shorter duration.
C) nodes, once activated, always move from the A1 state to the A2 state to the inactive state.
D) an association between the CS and US can occur only if their nodes are in the A2 state.

Question 65

According to Wagner's SOP model of conditioning,

A) as conditioning proceeds, the CS's ability to activate the US node into A1 increases.
B) after many CS-US pairings, CS presentations activate the US node to the A2 level.
C) changes in the CS from A1 to A2 are analogous to changes in attention.
D) changes in the US from A2 to inactive are analogous to surprise.

Question 66

Which set of phenomena did Wagner's SOP model explain that were not addressed by Rescorla-Wagner, Mackintosh, and Pearce-Hall?

A) Latent inhibition and sensory preconditioning effects
B) The effects of CS-US timing on conditioning strength
C) The Hall-Pearce negative transfer effect
D) Self-generated and retrieval-generated priming effects

Question 67

Inhibition, blocking, latent inhibition, and Hall-Pearce negative transfer all may occur when

A) both the CS and the US are in A1.
B) both the CS and the US are in A2.
C) one stimulus is in A1 and the other is in A2.
D) one stimulus is inactive and the other is in A1.

Question 68

Backward excitatory conditioning is most likely to occur when the US is in the _______ stage _______.

A) A1; when the CS is presented
B) A2; when the CS is presented
C) A1; and the CS is in the A2 stage
D) A2; and the CS is in the A2 stage

Question 69

A1 is to _______ as A2 is to _______.

A) configural learning; elemental learning
B) lambda; ΣV
C) self-generated priming; retrieval-generated priming
D) sensory nodes; emotion nodes

Question 70

The AESOP model predicts that

A) a US typically elicits just a single, distinct reflex, but CSs can elicit multiple responses.
B) only an emotive node or sensory node, but not both, can be activated at any one time.
C) depending on CS-US timing, the same CS may elicit behavior based on an excitatory emotive association or an inhibitory sensory association, or both.
D) the emotive nodes move between the A1, A2, and inactive stages more quickly than the sensory nodes do.

Question 71

Pearce's configural approach assumes that

A) on a trial in which L and T are combined and paired with the US, there is only one CS.
B) external inhibition occurs because an old CS is in the A2 state when a newly added CS is in the A1 state.
C) CS-US timing effects are due to interstimulus intervals that are either within or outside the configural moment.
D) multiple CSs are conditioned separately, and this learning then blocks configural conditioning.

Question 72

Which design represents negative patterning?

A) AB+, A-, B-
B) AB-, A+, B+
C) AB-, A-, B-
D) A-, B-, C-

Question 73

Which design cannot be solved by an elemental model?

A) AB+, A-, B-
B) AB-, A+, B+
C) AB-, A-, B-
D) A-, B-, C-

Question 74

According to _______, adding stimuli to compounds has the same effect as removing stimuli from compounds.

A) Pearce's configural model
B) the replaced elements model
C) both elemental models and Pearce's configural model
D) short-term memory models

Question 75

After conditioning A, adding a novel B to A (i.e., AB) results in some loss of the conditioned response. Pavlov named this effect

A) generalization decrement.
B) conditioned inhibition.
C) external inhibition.
D) negative patterning.

Question 76

Why is theory development important to psychologists who study learning phenomena?

Question 77

Evaluate the value of the Rescorla-Wagner model, and provide concrete examples to support your evaluation.

Question 78

Imagine L is trained as an inhibitor for a US. Then the organism experiences two kinds of trials with novel stimuli T and N. In some trials T is paired with the US, and in some trials L and N are combined and paired with the US. After conditioning to asymptote, which CS (T or N) will elicit the greater conditioned response according to the Rescorla-Wagner model?

Question 79

If you wanted to study the effects of salience on blocking, what would you manipulate in the Rescorla-Wagner model, and how would you manipulate it in order to derive a prediction to test?

Question 80

T and L are strong inhibitors, with V = ‒0.9 each. They are then presented together with X (TLX), and the US does not occur. What would the Rescorla-Wagner model predict with regard to X? Show your calculations and the final V_X to justify your answer (assuming αß = 0.2).