Deck 15: Learning to Be a Person: Behaviorism and Social Learning Theories

Question 1

When a new mobile is first hung over baby Jessica's crib, she looks at it frequently, but after several weeks pass she hardly notices it. Jessica has become ________ to the mobile.

A) classically conditioned
B) operantly conditioned
C) habituated
D) counterconditioned

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Pavlov's experiments on the timing of associations demonstrated that two things become associated because ________.

A) they occur at the exact same time
B) the conditioned stimulus (CS) comes well before the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
C) one concept changes the meaning of the other concept
D) they have similar perceptual features

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Experiments have shown that if one receives rewards and/or punishments randomly (i.e., regardless of what one does), then one is likely to develop depression. This phenomenon is known as ________.

A) learned helplessness
B) angst
C) social learning theory
D) reverse conditioning

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Bob eats a new dish at his favorite restaurant and throws up an hour later. According to the process of classical conditioning, he will most likely ________.

A) become nauseated at the sight of all restaurants
B) try the dish again when another chef prepares it
C) attribute his vomiting to an illness
D) never eat that dish again

Question 5

The basic idea behind empiricism is that ________.

A) two things become linked mentally if they are experienced close together in time
B) the structure of the mind determines our experience of reality
C) everything we know is the result of our experience
D) every large phenomenon can be understood by breaking it down into smaller components

Question 6

The idea that, in time, you can get used to almost anything is associated with which learning mechanism?

A) habituation
B) classical conditioning
C) operant conditioning
D) respondent conditioning

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT a philosophical underpinning of behaviorism?

A) associationism
B) empiricism
C) existentialism
D) hedonism

Question 8

The philosophical belief called ________ claims that people learn in order to seek pleasure and to avoid pain.

A) associationism
B) empiricism
C) hedonism
D) utilitarianism

Question 9

If a particular song frequently precedes your being touched by your significant other, then eventually hearing the song will make you think of being touched by him or her. This is the basic idea behind ________.

A) reductionism
B) habituation
C) associationism
D) hedonism

Question 10

Based on recent research regarding the ability to forecast emotional reactions to major events, people tend to ________.

A) be accurate judges of the emotional impact of future events
B) underestimate the emotional impact of negative events but not positive events
C) underestimate the emotional impact of positive events but not negative events
D) overestimate the emotional impact of both negative and positive events

Question 11

According to Skinner's terminology, behavior that acts on the environment and changes environmental conditions to the organism's advantage is ________ behavior.

A) respondent
B) reinforced
C) operant
D) reciprocally determined

Question 12

What learning process may explain why some addicts are more likely to overdose in new settings as opposed to familiar settings?

A) The addict was habituated to the effects of the drug in familiar settings but this was not true of the new setting.
B) The addict had failed to generalize his or her drug-taking script to the new setting.
C) Opponent processes that were classically conditioned in the familiar setting were not triggered in the new setting.
D) The addict had learned to control stimulus-response associations in the familiar setting, but this learning did not generalize.

Question 13

Philosopher John Locke's conception of the newborn mind as a tabula rasa (blank slate) is closely associated with the idea of ________.

A) associationism
B) empiricism
C) rationalism
D) existentialism

Question 14

Utilitarianism, a social philosophy, claims that ________.

A) people learn in order to seek pleasure and to avoid pain
B) behavior changes as a function of experience
C) two things become mentally connected into one if they are repeatedly experienced close together in time
D) the best society produces the most happiness for the largest number of people

Question 15

In Pavlov's famous studies, when the presentation of meat was frequently preceded by the sound of a bell, dogs ________.

A) refused to eat the meat
B) began to salivate at the sound of the bell
C) showed fear responses to the bell
D) salivated only when given the meat

Question 16

Behaviorists believe that personality differences can be entirely explained by ________.

A) learning
B) behavioral traits
C) phenomenological processes
D) IQ

Question 17

The attempt to determine how behavior is connected to the environment is called ________.

A) behavioral linking
B) empiricism
C) associationism
D) functional analysis

Question 18

It has been suggested that chronic anxiety is the result of ________.

A) repeated pairing of a common stimulus with an unpleasant response
B) the law of effect
C) repeated exposure to adverse stimuli that are unpredictable and random
D) second-order conditioning and stimulus generalization

Question 19

Which philosophical idea explains the learning process?

A) associationism
B) empiricism
C) hedonism
D) utilitarianism

Question 20

Hedonism provides the ________ necessary for learning and behavior to occur.

A) motivation
B) cognition
C) emotion
D) knowledge

Question 21

Skinner was among the first to insist that classical conditioning and operant conditioning ________.

A) do not apply to all people
B) can be acquired by observing others
C) are different types of learning
D) are not found in nonhuman animals

Question 22

As a conflicted goal gets closer, the tendency to ________ goal becomes stronger than the corresponding tendency to ________ goal.

A) avoid a negative; approach a positive
B) approach a negative; approach a positive
C) approach a negative; avoid a positive
D) avoid a positive; avoid a negative

Question 23

Perhaps the biggest limitation associated with the use of punishment is that ________.

A) behaviorists have not been able to identify consequences that are generally punishing
B) it is almost always administered incorrectly
C) alternatives to punishment are seldom available
D) punishing only the specific behavior does not appear to reduce the frequency of that behavior

Question 24

If you are frustrated because your coworker's performance prevented you from getting the end-of-the-year bonus you expected, Dollard and Miller would predict that you respond to this frustration with ________.

A) depression
B) aggressive behavior
C) feelings of humiliation
D) avoidance of the situation

Question 25

A light goes on in a room just before an excruciatingly loud buzzer sounds. A subject who startles when the light goes on shows ________ behavior, but one who leaves the room to avoid the noise exhibits ________ behavior.

A) respondent; operant
B) operant; respondent
C) conditioned; counterconditioned
D) counterconditioned; conditioned

Question 26

According to Dollard and Miller's theory, love, prestige, power, fear, and avoidance of humiliation are considered ________.

A) secondary drives
B) primary reinforcers
C) primary drives
D) secondary reinforcers

Question 27

Julian Rotter's social learning theory focuses primarily on ________.

A) drives
B) drive reduction
C) decision making
D) reciprocal determinism

Question 28

According to Dollard and Miller, ________ drives include drives for food, water, physical comfort, sexual gratification, and so on, whereas ________ drives include drives for love, prestige, money, and power.

A) classical; operant
B) primary; secondary
C) primary; tertiary
D) behavioral; cognitive

Question 29

On the first day of kindergarten, Terry's teacher responds to the students every time they ask her a question. By the end of the first week, the teacher will only respond to students who are sitting quietly at their desks. At the end of the second week, the teacher will only respond to students' questions if they are quietly seated, raise their hands, and wait to be called on before asking their questions. Terry's teacher is using ________ to change the students' behavior.

A) habituation
B) shaping
C) punishment
D) secondary conditioning

Question 30

From the perspective of expectancy value theory, your belief about how likely it is that a behavior will attain a certain goal is called your ________.

A) behavior potential
B) expectancy
C) reinforcement value
D) general self-efficacy

Question 31

Dollard and Miller view psychological conflict as the result of ________.

A) conflict between the id and the superego
B) conflict between primary and secondary drives
C) habit hierarchy disorder
D) approach-avoidance conflict

Question 32

Punishment involves ________.

A) removing an aversive stimulus in order to increase the frequency of a behavior
B) introducing an aversive consequence in order to decrease the frequency of a behavior
C) reinforcing incompatible behavioral responses
D) negative reinforcement but not positive reinforcement

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT an optimal way to administer punishment?

A) Provide multiple alternatives to the punishment-inducing behavior.
B) Be clear and specific about what behavior you are punishing.
C) Administer a punishment after the individual has had time to reflect on his or her behavior.
D) Condition a secondary punishing stimulus.

Question 34

Which of the following psychologists was NOT considered a social learning theorist?

A) Bandura
B) Dollard
C) Rotter
D) Thorndike

Question 35

According to Dollard and Miller, a state of psychological tension that feels good when it is reduced is called a ________.

A) drive
B) behavior potential
C) motivation
D) psychological conflict

Question 36

Dollard and Miller's key idea concerns ________.

A) defense mechanisms
B) the habit hierarchy
C) behavior potential
D) reciprocal determinism

Question 37

Which of the following is one of the main principles of Dollard and Miller's approach-avoidance conflict theory?

A) Weaker drives typically cause an individual to approach a goal.
B) The tendency to approach a positive goal declines the closer an individual is to the goal.
C) Whenever there are two competing responses, the weaker one prevails.
D) The avoidance gradient is steeper than the approach gradient.

Question 38

According to Dollard and Miller, ________ provides the motivating force for human behavior.

A) expectancy
B) self-efficacy
C) reinforcement value
D) drive reduction

Question 39

A ranked ordering of the behaviors that an individual might perform is called a(n) ________.

A) expectancy value theory
B) efficacy expectation list
C) habit hierarchy
D) behavior potential

Question 40

According to Dollard and Miller, in order for a reward to be reinforcing and produce behavior change, the reward must ________.

A) increase the expectancy value of the behavior
B) change the habit hierarchy
C) satisfy a drive
D) produce physiological tension

Question 41

As a child, Robin was frequently surrounded by many people and came to see herself as a very sociable person. As an adult, she has chosen a career that requires her to interact with other people on a daily basis. As a result, Robin is becoming even more sociable than before. This process is called ________.

A) the approach-avoidance goal system
B) reciprocal determinism
C) vicarious learning
D) the expectancy value theory

Question 42

What term refers to Bandura's idea that the self-system, environmental factors, and behavior are all dynamically interlinked?

A) efficacy expectations
B) reciprocal determinism
C) the transactional triad
D) the cognitive person system

Question 43

Following Bandura, many social learning theorists agree that the important causes of behavior ________.

A) are located only in the environment
B) are located only in the conscious mind
C) involve an interaction between the individual's mind and the environment
D) mostly result from direct reinforcement for the behavior

Question 44

Which of the following is NOT part of the cognitive-affective personality system (CAPS)?

A) cognitive and behavior competencies
B) encoding strategies
C) subjective stimulus values
D) the Big Five domains

Question 45

Bandura's ________ has proven to be the most influential of his ideas.

A) specific approach to therapy
B) emphasis on observational learning
C) concept of expectancies
D) discovery of if . . . then contingencies

Question 46

The key target for psychotherapy, according to Bandura, is to ________.

A) change the client's overt behavior to match the demands of the situation
B) achieve a better match between the client's efficacy expectations and capabilities
C) change the client's reinforcement values to match their behaviors
D) modify the client's habit hierarchy

Question 47

What construct would Mischel prefer replace the construct of personality traits?

A) expectancies
B) the self-system
C) cognitive-affective person units
D) if . . . then contingencies

Question 48

What two important ideas are combined in Mischel's cognitive-affective personality system?

A) An individual's construal of the world is important, and individuals have completely stable personality traits.
B) Observation is the most important source of learning, and individuals have completely stable personality traits.
C) Observation is the most important source of learning, and the cognitive system has multiple tracks.
D) An individual's construal of the world is important, and the cognitive system has multiple tracks that sometimes intersect.

Question 49

The element of reciprocal determinism that departs most significantly from classic behaviorism is the idea that ________.

A) the organism's behavior is a function of the environment
B) the environment cannot be changed by an organism's behavior
C) the self can affect behavior, independent of the environment
D) learning occurs through direct reinforcement for behavior

Question 50

Bandura's concept of efficacy is similar to what Rotter called ________.

A) situational relativism
B) reinforcement values
C) expectancies
D) behavior potential

Question 51

According to Mischel, what is the most important aspect of personality and cognition?

A) Personality traits are subordinate to cognitive processes.
B) Cognitive processes are subordinate to personality traits.
C) The many systems of personality and cognition interact.
D) Systems of personality and cognition operate in a serial process.

Question 52

Which theorist had a substantial intellectual influence on Mischel's ideas about the cognitive-affective personality system?

A) George Kelly
B) Gordon Allport
C) Sigmund Freud
D) Hans Eysenck

Question 53

What cognitive person variable in Mischel's cognitive social learning theory is closest to the notion of expectancies in Rotter's theory?

A) behavioral construction competencies
B) subjective stimulus values
C) self-regulatory plans
D) personal constructs

Question 54

The Bobo doll studies of aggression demonstrated that ________.

A) changing efficacy expectations can facilitate behavioral change
B) expectancies vary across situations
C) children will imitate positive but not negative behaviors
D) learning can occur vicariously through observation

Question 55

Bandura's efficacy expectation is a belief about ________.

A) what the person believes he or she is capable of doing
B) the amount of work required to be effective
C) the expected worth of an outcome
D) the probability of success expected for an average person

Question 56

According to Rotter, locus of control is analogous to ________.

A) self-efficacy
B) a specific expectancy
C) reinforcement value
D) a generalized expectancy

Question 57

According to Mischel's theorizing, which of the following methods would be the best way to stop yourself from eating a piece of delicious chocolate cake?

A) smelling the cake to trick yourself into thinking that you ate it
B) telling yourself repeatedly that chocolate tastes bad
C) thinking about the chocolate cake as a piece of brown plastic
D) imagining how good the cake tastes to replace the actual desire to eat it

Question 58

Behaviorism is concerned with ________, whereas Rotter's social learning perspective is concerned with ________.

A) actual rewards and punishments; beliefs about reward and punishment
B) operant conditioning; respondent conditioning
C) general behavioral tendencies; specific learned motivational tendencies
D) classical conditioning; observational learning

Question 59

Barbara thinks that Joe will go out on a date with her if she can ever get up the courage to ask him. Barbara's perception of the likelihood that Joe will accept her invitation reflects her ________, whereas her doubts about her ability to ask him out reflect her ________.

A) reinforcement value; behavior potential
B) expectancy; efficacy expectation
C) efficacy expectation; expectancy
D) behavior potential; reinforcement value

Question 60

Mark thinks that if he asks for a $50-a-week raise, he will definitely get it. He really wants a $75-a-week raise and thinks his chances of getting a raise of that amount are about 25 percent. Expectancy value theory would predict that Mark will ask for a ________-a-week raise, and classic behaviorism would predict that he will ask for a ________-a-week raise.

A) $50; $75
B) $75; $50
C) $50; $50
D) $75; $75

Question 61

Most people use punishment effectively.

Question 62

Even amoebas and crayfish can learn habituation.

Question 63

One advantage of behaviorism is that it is supported by objective data.

Question 64

Strict behaviorists believe that thoughts and emotions are important to study.

Question 65

There is some evidence that habituation to suffering might make people less likely to help or assist others in need.

Question 66

A utilitarian always values happiness over freedom.

Question 67

Operant conditioning only occurs if an individual is consciously aware of the reinforcement.

Question 68

According to principles of hedonism, the objective is to seek pleasure, even if it involves some pain.

Question 69

An individual with an internal locus of control tends to have low generalized expectancies.

Question 70

The most important limitation of the strict behaviorist approaches to personality psychology is that it ________.

A) focus only on psychological disorders and ignore humankind's positive qualities
B) underemphasize or ignore cognition
C) underemphasize the effect of the specific situation on an organism's behavior
D) lack scientific rigor

Question 71

Freedom to select situations is an important corollary of behaviorist principles.

Question 72

Humans are the only animals that learn by observing others.

Question 73

Punishment is always more effective when it immediately follows the behavior rather than when it is delayed.

Question 74

Expectancy value theory states that the individual will weigh both the size of the reward and the likelihood of obtaining the reward when faced with a decision.

Question 75

Classical conditioning is the simplest way an individual can learn.

Question 76

Opponent processes in the body can counteract some of the effects of depressants.

Question 77

According to Dollard and Miller's approach-avoidance conflict theory, the tendency to approach a positive goal is stronger than the tendency to avoid a negative goal.

Question 78

Both punishment and reinforcement can be used to get someone to stop performing a behavior.

Question 79

E. L. Thorndike proposed that people learn to do things faster and more efficiently when the effects of the behavior are negative.

Question 80

Which of the following is NOT a major achievement of the learning approaches to personality?

A) These approaches pushed psychology in the direction of an objective science.
B) These approaches enhanced our understanding of how the environment affects behavior.
C) These approaches helped further the understanding of the importance of early interactions with caregivers.
D) These approaches led to the development of useful procedures for changing behavior, at least in the short term.