Deck 9: Stimulus Control and Concept Learning

Question 1

It has been proposed that behavioral contrast occurs because

A)responding is shifted from a schedule with low reinforcement to one with higher reinforcement
B)there is less habituation or satiation when the reinforcers are reduced on one reinforcement schedule
C)the subject compares the value of one schedule to what is available on the other schedule
D)all of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following response rules is consistent with the relational theory of stimulus control-

A)choose the greener of the two stimuli
B)of the three stimuli,choose the one of intermediate brightness
C)both a and b
D)neither a nor b

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The phenomenon of peak shift,the most rapid responding is shifted

A)toward the more intense stimulus
B)away from the more intense stimulus
C)toward the S⁻
D)away from the S⁻

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Experiments on sensory deprivation have shown that if birds are prevented from seeing different colors when they are young,

A)the birds are color blind as adults
B)the birds can still see different colors but respond to all of them in the same way
C)the birds may still discriminate between different colors in a generalization test
D)the birds will discriminate between different colors in a generalization test only after they receive discrimination training

Question 5

Taking into account all the different results,the most accurate position about the absolute and relational theories of stimulus control is

A)the absolute theory is definitely the correct one
B)the relative theory is definitely the correct one
C)animals are definitely capable of making relational judgments
D)animals are definitely not capable of making relational judgments

Question 6

Based on Terrace's research on "errorless" discrimination learning,
Which of the following strategies is not a good way to develop good discrimination between an S⁺ and an S--

A)present the S- briefly at first
B)allow the animal to make many responses to the S- early in training
C)present the S- early in training
D)None of the above are good strategies.

Question 7

The phenomenon of peak shift is sometimes observed in

A)successive discrimination tasks
B)simultaneous discrimination tasks
C)both a and b
D)neither a nor b

Question 8

Spence's theory of stimulus control states that during discrimination training

A)an excitatory generalization gradient develops around the S⁺
B)an inhibitory generalization gradient develops around the S
C)both a and b
D)neither a nor b

Question 9

A pigeon responds on a multiple schedule in which a VI 30-second schedule is in effect both when the response key is red and when the response key is green.Next,the schedule associated with the green key is changed to extinction.Which of the following changes in behavior would be an example of positive behavioral contrast-

A)an increase in response rate on the red key
B)a decrease in response rate on the red key
C)an increase in response rate on the green key
D)a decrease in response rate on the green key

Question 10

Experiments on learning sets have shown that

A)animals cannot generalize from one problem to another if the stimuli of the two problems are completely unrelated
B)animals can learn to pay attention to a certain stimulus dimension,such as color
C)animals can learn to ignore a certain stimulus dimension,such as color
D)some species acquire learning sets much more quickly than others

Question 11

Rosch concluded from her experiments that natural categories

A)include central and peripheral instances
B)have distinct boundaries
C)both a and b
D)neither a nor b

Question 12

In deciding whether an ostrich is a bird,a child would probably

A)respond faster than if the question was whether a robin is a bird
B)respond slower than if the question was whether a robin is a bird
C)treat the example of ostrich as a central instance
D)have a distinct mental boundary between birds and non-birds

Question 13

In the research of Jenkins and Harrison,one group of pigeons received nondifferential training with a 1000 Hz tone--the same tone was present on every trial.In a generalization test along the dimension of tone frequency,this group produced

A)typical generalization gradients with peaks at 1000 Hz
B)extremely narrow generalization gradients
C)flat generalization gradients
D)no generalization to other tones

Question 14

Results of experiments on the intermediate-size problem

A)clearly favor the absolute theory of stimulus control
B)clearly favor the relational theory of stimulus control
C)do not clearly favor either theory
D)only favor the absolute position if one takes into account Spence's theory of inhibitory gradients

Question 15

In her research on natural categories,Rosch found that

A)different subjects generally agree on which objects are included in a category and which are not
B)subjects' reaction times to identify some category members are faster than others
C)both a and b
D)neither a nor b

Question 16

Pavlov believed that generalization was

A)an automatic by-product of the conditioning process
B)dependent on discrimination training along the relevant dimension
C)partly a and partly b
D)neither a nor b

Question 17

In the research of Jenkins and Harrison,one group of pigeons received intradimensional training--a 1000 Hz tone was an S⁺ and a 950 Hz tone was an S-.In a generalization test along the dimension of tone frequency,this group produced

A)typical generalization gradients with peaks at 1000 Hz
B)extremely narrow generalization gradients
C)flat generalization gradients
D)no generalization to other tones

Question 18

Which of the following response rules is consistent with the absolute theory of stimulus control-

A)choose the greener of the two stimuli
B)of the three stimuli,choose the one of intermediate brightness
C)both a and b
D)neither a nor b

Question 19

In the research of Jenkins and Harrison,one group of pigeons received presence-absence training--a 1000 Hz tone was an S⁺ and the absence of a tone was an S-.In a generalization test along the dimension of tone frequency,this group produced

A)typical generalization gradients with peaks at 1000 Hz
B)extremely narrow generalization gradients
C)flat generalization gradients
D)no generalization to other tones

Question 20

According to the theory of Lashley and Wade,generalization is

A)an automatic by-product of the conditioning process
B)dependent on discrimination training along the relevant dimension
C)partly a and partly b
D)neither a nor b

Question 21

Experiments on natural concept formation with pigeons have shown that

A)this type of learning is very slow
B)the subjects accomplish the task by identifying one common feature (such as the color green)that distinguishes all positive instances from all negative instances
C)this learning can be transferred to slides the pigeons have never seen before
D)both a and c but not b

Question 22

Experiments on stimulus equivalence are different than other research on concept formation because

A)the members of each "category" are not similar in form,color,or any other attribute
B)subjects know the "categories" before the experiment begins
C)subjects who cannot speak actually perform better than those who can
D)the "categories" are those found in the natural world

Question 23

Students interested in improving their study habits should

A)study in many different locations to avoid boredom
B)force themselves to study for a certain time period (such as one hour)whether they feel like it or not
C)study a particular subject at different times on different days
D)none of the above

Question 24

Treating the number "8" and the word "eight" as the same mathematical concept is an example of

A)a learning set
B)generalization
C)stimulus equivalence
D)absolute stimulus control

Question 25

If a woman's insomnia is due to poor stimulus control,she should

A)always remain in bed until she falls asleep,no matter how long it takes
B)lie in bed and read or engage in some other behavior that takes her mind off her problems
C)not get into bed until she is sleepy
D)all of the above