Deck 4: Theories and Research on Classical Conditioning

Question 1

In the phenomenon of overshadowing,a CS fails to acquire much excitatory strength because

A)it has previously undergone habituation
B)it is paired with a very strong US
C)it is presented in compound with a very strong CS
D)it is simply too weak a stimulus to be conditioned

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The equipotentiality premise states that

A)any two stimuli should be conditioned equally rapidly
B)any two stimuli of equal intensity should be conditioned equally rapidly
C)if one of two stimuli is conditioned more rapidly in one context,it should be conditioned more rapidly in all other contexts
D)none of the above

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Suppose that in a conditioned suppression procedure with rats,a series of light-shock trials are followed by pairings of a compound stimulus,light and tone,with shock.A later test with the tone alone would probably find

A)little or no lever pressing during the tone
B)faster than normal lever pressing during the tone
C)the same rate of lever pressing during the tone as before the tone began
D)the same rate of lever pressing during the tone as during the light

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Comparator theories of classical conditioning state that animals compare

A)the intensities of different CSs
B)the intensities of different USs
C)the probability of a US in the presence and absence of a CS
D)none of the above

Question 5

Research on second-order conditioning has found evidence for

A)S-S associations between the two CSs
B)S-R associations between the second-order CS and the response
C)both a and b
D)neither a nor b

Question 6

One feature of taste-aversion learning that is not found in any other type of learning is

A)learning with delays of several hours
B)very slow extinction
C)both a and b
D)neither a nor b

Question 7

Research on the effectiveness of different types of stimuli has shown that

A)taste stimuli are always easier to condition than visual stimuli
B)taste stimuli are always easier to condition than visual stimuli when the US is illness
C)taste stimuli are always easier to condition than visual stimuli when the US is shock
D)none of the above

Question 8

In classical conditioning,the rate of acquisition to a single CS may be slow if

A)the CS is familiar
B)the CS in novel
C)the US is novel
D)none of the above

Question 9

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model,compared to a less salient CS,a more salient CS will receive

A)stronger conditioning
B)weaker conditioning
C)the same amount of conditioning
D)inhibitory conditioning

Question 10

The Rescorla-Wagner model predicts that in a series of trials with a single,novel CS,the increase in associative strength per trial

A)will be the same on every trial
B)will be greatest on the first few trials
C)will be greatest on the last few trials
D)will be greatest in the middle of training

Question 11

A limitation of the Rescorla-Wagner model is that it cannot predict

A)the overexpectation effect
B)the CS preexposure effect
C)inhibitory conditioning
D)overshadowing

Question 12

The research on human phobias of spiders and snakes may be evidence for

A)equipotentiality
B)prepared associations
C)contraprepared associations
D)unprepared associations

Question 13

The results of Kamin's blocking experiment were surprising because they seemed to contradict the well-established principle of

A)frequency
B)contrast
C)recency
D)similarity

Question 14

If a stimulus is an occasion setter,its presence or absence controls whether or not the subject will respond

A)when a different stimulus,the CS,is presented
B)when the US is presented
C)when the US is terminated
D)when the occasion setter itself is presented

Question 15

In Kamin's blocking experiment,it might be said that the added or "blocked" stimulus is

A)uninformative
B)not conditioned
C)redundant
D)all of the above

Question 16

One phenomenon that taste-aversion learning shares with other types of learning is

A)generalization gradients
B)conditioned inhibition
C)both a and b
D)neither a nor b

Question 17

Animals have developed taste aversions with delays between ingestion and illness as long as

A)15 minutes
B)8 hours
C)24 hours
D)72 hours

Question 18

Experiments with rats have found that they are most likely to associate

A)tastes with illness
B)tastes with shock
C)shock with illness
D)audio-visual stimuli with illness

Question 19

Unlike the Rescorla-Wagner model,Mackintosh's theory of attention states that

A)subjects can learn to pay increased attention to informative CSs
B)subjects can learn to pay less attention to uninformative CSs
C)both a and b
D)neither a nor b

Question 20

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model,inhibitory conditioning will occur when the actual size of the US is

A)greater than what was expected
B)less than what was expected
C)equal to what was expected
D)less than that of the CS

Question 21

For regular coffee drinkers,the smell and taste of coffee can serve as a CS that

A)mimics the effects of caffeine
B)counteracts the effects of caffeine
C)leads to caffeine-like effects even with decaffeinated coffee
D)increases arousal

Question 22

According to Wagner's sometimes-opponent-process theory,the CR will be a compensatory response rather than a mimicking response when

A)the UR is monophasic
B)the UR is biphasic
C)the UR has been habituated
D)the UR is aversive

Question 23

Physiological studies of classical conditioning in rmammals have found that

A)the same parts of the brain are involved in different phenomena such as conditioned inhibition and blocking
B)the same parts of the brain are involved in different CRs such as eyeblinks and heart rate changes
C)the brain structures involved are the same as those in Aplysia
D)many different brain structures are involved in simple classical conditioning

Question 24

According to Siegel's theory,drug tolerance is

A)due to the automatic strengthening of the b-process with repeated drug administrations
B)due to a change in metabolism
C)due to the development of a conditioned response
D)due to a weakening of the unconditioned response to the drug

Question 25

In their studies of Aplysia,Kandel and his associates have found that classical conditioning of the gill-withdrawal response

A)does not support the contiguity principle
B)is due to an increased responsiveness of the gill motor neuron to the transmitter released by the sensory neuron
C)is due to the increased transmitter released by the sensory neuron that is stimulated by the CS
D)is due to a combination of b and c

Question 26

Physiological studies of eyeblink conditioning in rabbits have found that

A)responses to the CS and the US are controlled by exactly the same neural pathways
B)responses to the CS and the US are controlled by two fairly different pathways
C)any lesion that abolishes the CS also abolishes the US
D)conditioning is controlled by the spinal cord,not the brain