Deck 6: Learning

Question 1

The study of learning in laboratory animals is most closely associated with which of the following?

A) structuralists
B) psychoanalysts
C) humanistic psychologists
D) behaviorists

Answer 1

behaviorists

Question 2

Modern behaviorists generally believe that

A) all human and animal behavior can be described as simple responses to current, simple stimuli.
B) human thought is the only appropriate subject matter for psychologists to study.
C) behavior is a product of an individual's past history of stimuli and responses, as well as responses to current stimuli.
D) determinism is an obsolete concept.

Answer 2

behavior is a product of an individual's past history of stimuli and responses, as well as responses to current stimuli.

Question 3

B. F. Skinner was known for his objection to

A) the use of animals in research.
B) the use of mental terms in describing behavior.
C) the idea that all behavior is caused or determined in some way.
D) Darwin's theory of evolution.

Answer 3

the use of mental terms in describing behavior.

Question 4

A psychologist who insists that psychologists should only study behavior and never make references to mental processes, would best be described as a

A) humanistic psychologist.
B) methodological behaviorist.
C) radical behaviorist.
D) cognitive psychologist.

Question 5

The goal of radical behaviorism is to explain behavior in terms of:

A) mental processes.
B) brain processes.
C) genetics and evolution.
D) simple responses to stimuli.

Question 6

Which of the following is an intervening variable?

A) food deprivation
B) hunger
C) increased intake of carbohydrates
D) prolonged exercise

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT one of the characteristic assumptions of behaviorists?

A) All behavior is caused or determined in some way.
B) The environment molds behavior.
C) Researchers can learn general principles by studying laboratory animals.
D) Unconscious thoughts and wishes control much of our behavior.

Question 8

What characterizes a methodological behaviorist?

A) denial that internal mental states cause behavior, or that they are scientifically useful concepts
B) occasional willingness to use behavioral observations to infer internal events
C) belief that the mind is separate from the brain
D) reliance on people's self reports about their internal mental states

Question 9

Which kind of behaviorist would accept references to mental experiences, as long as they are cautiously inferred from observable behaviors?

A) A radical behaviorist, but not a methodological behaviorist.
B) A methodological behaviorist, but not a radical behaviorist.
C) Both methodological and radical behaviorists.
D) No self-respecting behaviorist (radical, methodological, or otherwise) would ever accept references to mental experiences.

Question 10

Suppose you wanted to study learning in alligators. You give an alligator food if it approaches a green wall but not if it approaches a red wall. After hundreds of trials the alligator still approaches each wall equally. Which of the following conclusions is best?

A) Alligators are color-blind.
B) Alligators are unable to learn.
C) Alligators are not motivated to seek food.
D) It is premature to draw any conclusions about learning in alligators until they are studied in a wider variety of situations.

Question 11

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution inspired psychologists of the early 1900s to study

A) the genetic basis of learning in humans.
B) increases in intelligence from one generation to the next.
C) animal learning and intelligence.
D) the transmission of memories from parent to child.

Question 12

Which of the following would a behaviorist be least likely to study?

A) rats in a maze
B) human thought processes
C) schedules of reinforcement
D) classical conditioning

Question 13

An early approach to behaviorism that attempted to explain behavior in terms of how each stimulus triggers a response was known as

A) stimulus-response psychology.
B) reflexology.
C) structuralism.
D) physiology.

Question 14

Behaviorism began, in part, as a protest against the views of

A) Watson.
B) Pavlov.
C) the structuralists.
D) the ethologists.

Question 15

Something that cannot be directly observed, but which links various procedures to various responses is called a(n)

A) intervening variable.
B) hypothesis.
C) theory.
D) interacting variable.

Question 16

According to radical behaviorists,

A) we can use behavioral observations to infer how the mind works.
B) internal processes, such as hopes and expectations, are never the causes of behavior.
C) all important behavioral variations can be traced to genetics.
D) all behavior can be explained in terms of the id and the ego.

Question 17

Psychologists who argue that psychologists should only study observable, measurable behaviors are called

A) behaviorists.
B) Gestalt psychologists.
C) humanistic psychologists.
D) psychoanalysts.

Question 18

Behaviorism began, in part, as a protest against psychologists who tried to study

A) mental experiences.
B) the effects of reinforcements and punishments.
C) animal learning.
D) reflexes.

Question 19

Unlike the structuralists, behaviorists believed that psychology must study __________ in order to be scientific.

A) thought processes only
B) thought processes and observable behavior
C) observable behavior only
D) the structure and the processes of thinking

Question 20

Of the following, a behaviorist is most likely to study

A) unconscious thought processes.
B) animal learning.
C) repressed memories.
D) higher motives, including self-actualization.

Question 21

Ivan Pavlov was a pioneer in the study of

A) operant conditioning.
B) social-learning theory.
C) behavior modification.
D) classical conditioning.

Question 22

As a rule, behaviorists are LEAST interested in which of the following?

A) animal learning
B) simple explanations
C) the distinction between conscious and unconscious thought
D) classical conditioning

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT an assumption of behaviorism?

A) Behavior is molded by the environment.
B) All behavior is caused.
C) Mental explanations do not explain causes of behavior.
D) Examining people's thoughts provides valid data.

Question 24

In an experiment on classical conditioning, a tone is followed by a puff of air to the eyes. After several repetitions, subjects blink their eyes when they hear the tone. What is the unconditioned stimulus in this experiment?

A) blinking the eyes
B) the puff of air
C) the tone
D) the eyelids

Question 25

Modern behaviorists tend to

A) deny that heredity plays a role in variations in behavior.
B) emphasize the role that heredity plays in behavior.
C) focus their research on the role of environmental factors in behavior.
D) employ the techniques pioneered by the structuralists.

Question 26

In general, behaviorists accept the assumption that

A) the only way to change behavior significantly is by changing the individual's genes.
B) we can understand someone's actions only by first understanding his or her goals, beliefs, and ideas.
C) human behavior follows different principles from those that control the behavior of laboratory animals.
D) all behavior is governed by cause-and-effect relationships.

Question 27

In Pavlov's experiment the __________ was similar to the __________.

A) CS...CR
B) CR...UCR
C) UCS...UCR
D) CS...UCS

Question 28

The idea that all behavior has causes and obeys certain laws is called

A) structuralism.
B) pantheism.
C) determinism.
D) transactional analysis.

Question 29

In classical conditioning the conditioned response is always

A) similar to the unconditioned response.
B) stronger than the unconditioned response.
C) whatever the conditioned stimulus elicits as a result of training.
D) whatever the conditioned stimulus elicits prior to training.

Question 30

A behaviorist would state that your thoughts and feelings do not cause your behavior because

A) there is no evidence that we have thoughts and feelings.
B) these thoughts and feelings are caused by events in the past and present environment.
C) the body behaves, and the body cannot think.
D) thoughts and feelings are not related to any physical events.

Question 31

Who discovered classical conditioning?

A) Skinner
B) Ebbinghaus
C) Pavlov
D) Thorndike

Question 32

At the beginning of an experiment on classical conditioning,

A) the animal cannot make a UCR.
B) the CS elicits a CR automatically.
C) the CS and the UCS are the same.
D) the UCS elicits a UCR automatically.

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of behaviorism?

A) interest in animal learning in laboratory conditions
B) belief that all behavior has causes
C) search for an understanding of stimulus-response relationships
D) interest in the difference between conscious and unconscious thought

Question 34

In an experiment on classical conditioning, the researcher presents a noise, followed by a puff of air to the eyes. The air puff elicits a blink of the eyes, and after a few pairings the noise does also. In this procedure, the conditioned stimulus is the __________ and the conditioned response is __________.

A) noise...air puff
B) air puff...noise
C) air puff...eye blink
D) noise...eye blink

Question 35

What is an unconditioned reflex?

A) a process of pairing a conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus
B) a process of following a conditioned response with an unconditioned response
C) an inborn, automatic connection between a stimulus and a response
D) a learned connection between a stimulus and a response

Question 36

As a rule, behaviorists assume that

A) unconscious thought processes govern different behaviors from the ones that conscious thought processes influence.
B) every behavior is caused or determined through processes that can be scientifically studied.
C) people understand the reasons behind their own behaviors and can describe them accurately.
D) the primary motivation of people is the striving for self-actualization.

Question 37

"Why did she yell at the man?" "She yelled because she was angry." "How do you know she was angry?" "I could tell because she was yelling." This exchange is an example of

A) inferential logic.
B) deductive reasoning.
C) circular reasoning.
D) the application of radical behaviorism.

Question 38

The British and American legal systems are similar to radical behaviorism in that both

A) base decisions upon intervening variables.
B) rely on inferred mental events for interpretations.
C) view the individual as more important than the population as a whole.
D) insist upon a description of what an individual did, not why they did it.

Question 39

Which response did Pavlov measure in most of his experiments?

A) pecking at a disk
B) pressing a lever
C) salivation
D) eye blinking

Question 40

In an experiment on classical conditioning, a tone is followed by a puff of air to the eyes. After several repetitions, subjects blink their eyes when they hear the tone. In this experiment the tone is the __________ and blinking is the __________.

A) conditioned stimulus...unconditioned stimulus
B) conditioned stimulus...conditioned response
C) unconditioned stimulus...unconditioned response
D) conditioned response...unconditioned response

Question 41

Suppose your alarm made a slight clicking sound just before the alarm goes off. Even though you didn't wake up to the clicking sound initially, now you do, due to classical conditioning. In this example, the clicking is a/an

A) unconditioned stimulus.
B) unconditioned response.
C) conditioned stimulus.
D) conditioned response.

Question 42

Pavlov repeatedly paired a buzzer with the presentation of food and measured salivation to each. In this experiment the food was the

A) unconditioned stimulus.
B) unconditioned response.
C) conditioned stimulus.
D) conditioned response.

Question 43

In an experiment on classical conditioning, a tone is followed by a puff of air to the eyes. After several repetitions, subjects blink their eyes when they hear the tone. What is the conditioned stimulus in this experiment?

A) the puff of air
B) the eyelids
C) the tone
D) blinking

Question 44

In Pavlov's experiments he paired a sound with the presentation of food and measured salivation to each. In this experiment the conditioned stimulus was the

A) food.
B) sound.
C) salivation to food.
D) salivation to the sound.

Question 45

Suppose your alarm made a slight clicking sound just before the alarm goes off. Even though you didn't wake up to the clicking sound initially, now you do, due to classical conditioning. In this example, the conditioned stimulus is

A) waking up to your alarm.
B) the alarm.
C) the clicking.
D) waking up to the clicking.

Question 46

Pavlov paired a sound with food and measured salivation to each. In this experiment the conditioned response was the?

A) food.
B) salivation to the sound.
C) salivation to food.
D) sound.

Question 47

Suppose your alarm made a slight clicking sound just before the alarm goes off. Even though you didn't wake up to the clicking sound initially, now you do, due to classical conditioning. In this example, waking up is

A) the conditioned stimulus.
B) both the conditioned response and the unconditioned response.
C) both the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.
D) the unconditioned response.

Question 48

In an experiment on classical conditioning, a tone is followed by a puff of air to the eyes. After several repetitions, subjects blink their eyes when they hear the tone. In this experiment, the tone is the __________ and the puff of air is the __________.

A) conditioned stimulus...unconditioned stimulus
B) conditioned stimulus...conditioned response
C) unconditioned stimulus...unconditioned response
D) conditioned response...unconditioned response

Question 49

In Pavlov's experiments he paired the presentation of food with a buzzer and measured salivation to each. In this experiment the salivation was

A) the unconditioned stimulus.
B) the conditioned stimulus.
C) the conditioned response, but not unconditioned response.
D) both the conditioned and the unconditioned response.

Question 50

Suppose your alarm made a slight clicking sound just before the alarm goes off. Even though you didn't wake up to the clicking sound initially, now you do, due to classical conditioning. In this example, the loud alarm is a/an

A) unconditioned stimulus.
B) unconditioned response.
C) conditioned stimulus.
D) conditioned response.

Question 51

In Pavlov's experiments he paired a sound with the presentation of food and measured salivation to each. In this experiment the unconditioned stimulus was the

A) food.
B) sound.
C) salivation to food.
D) salivation to the sound.

Question 52

In an experiment on classical conditioning, a tone is followed by a puff of air to the eyes. After several repetitions, subjects blink their eyes when they hear the tone. In this experiment blinking is

A) the unconditioned stimulus.
B) both the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.
C) the unconditioned response.
D) both the conditioned response and the unconditioned response.

Question 53

In an experiment on classical conditioning, a tone is followed by a puff of air to the eyes. After several repetitions, subjects blink their eyes when they hear the tone. In this experiment, the tone is the __________ and the puff of air is the __________.

A) conditioned stimulus...unconditioned stimulus
B) conditioned stimulus...conditioned response
C) unconditioned stimulus...unconditioned response
D) conditioned response...unconditioned response

Question 54

On the first trial of an experiment on classical conditioning, the CS elicits __________ and the UCS elicits __________.

A) no response...no response
B) the CR...no response
C) the CR...the UCR
D) no response...the UCR

Question 55

Suppose your alarm made a slight clicking sound just before the alarm goes off. Even though you didn't wake up to the clicking sound initially, now you do, due to classical conditioning. In this example, the unconditioned response is

A) waking up to your alarm.
B) the alarm.
C) the clicking.
D) waking up to the clicking.

Question 56

A psychologist conducts an experiment on classical conditioning. Which of the following will NOT be present on the first trial?

A) unconditioned stimulus
B) unconditioned response
C) conditioned stimulus
D) conditioned response

Question 57

In a classical conditioning experiment, a tone is followed by a puff of air to the eyes. After several repetitions, subjects blink their eyes when they hear the tone. The tone is the

A) conditioned stimulus.
B) unconditioned stimulus.
C) conditioned response.
D) unconditioned response.

Question 58

In Pavlov's experiments he paired the presentation of food with a buzzer and measured salivation to each. In this experiment the buzzer was the

A) unconditioned stimulus.
B) unconditioned response.
C) conditioned stimulus.
D) conditioned response.

Question 59

Which of the following is most likely to occur during an experiment on classical conditioning?

A) The subject shows spontaneous recovery before extinction.
B) A subject that has been trained to discriminate responds equally to all stimuli.
C) The subject displays an unconditioned response on the first trial.
D) The subject displays a conditioned response on the first trial.

Question 60

What procedure does an investigator use to produce classical conditioning?

A) Pair the CS with the CR.
B) Pair the UCS with the UCR.
C) Pair the CS with the UCS.
D) Present reinforcement after a response.

Question 61

A dog wags its tail whenever it sees its master. If this is a learned response, what would the dog have to do in order to demonstrate stimulus generalization?

A) continue wagging its tail for some time after its master has left
B) wag its tail more vigorously than usual if it has not seen its master for a long time
C) bark or growl when it sees someone other than its master
D) wag its tail when it sees someone who looks similar to its master

Question 62

In classical conditioning, which of the following involves learning?

A) acquisition, but not extinction
B) extinction, but not acquisition
C) both acquisition and extinction
D) neither acquisition nor extinction

Question 63

In classical conditioning, the opposite of acquisition is

A) extinction.
B) generalization.
C) discrimination.
D) spontaneous recovery.

Question 64

What is the difference between extinction and forgetting?

A) Extinction takes place more slowly.
B) Extinction takes place in classical conditioning: forgetting takes place in operant conditioning.
C) Extinction depends on specific experiences; forgetting depends on the passage of time.
D) Extinction is more lasting.

Question 65

How does an investigator produce extinction in classical conditioning?

A) Punish all responses.
B) Present the CS without the UCS.
C) Present the UCS without the UCR.
D) Present the UCS without the CS.

Question 66

A nursing mother puts her baby to her breast to feed every time she hears it cry. After a few days, her milk starts to flow as soon as she hears the baby. In terms of classical conditioning, what is the conditioned stimulus?

A) the baby's cry
B) the baby sucking at the breast
C) the mother
D) the flow of milk

Question 67

A nursing mother puts her baby to the breast as soon as she hears it cry. After a few days, her milk begins to flow as soon as the baby cries. In terms of classical conditioning, what is the conditioned response?

A) the baby's cry
B) the baby sucking at the breast
C) the mother
D) the flow of milk

Question 68

How can one extinguish a classically conditioned response?

A) Wait a long time without more training.
B) Repeatedly present the unconditioned stimulus by itself.
C) Repeatedly present the conditioned stimulus by itself.
D) Stop providing positive reinforcements.

Question 69

Under what circumstances do we see spontaneous recovery of a learned response?

A) An individual is reinforced for responding to one stimulus but not to another.
B) A distracting stimulus increases a weakly learned response.
C) After a response is extinguished, the subject is given a delay and then tested again.
D) The subject is exposed many times to the CS alone.

Question 70

The process that establishes or strengthens a conditioned response is known as

A) the conditional response.
B) salivation.
C) acquisition.
D) classical stimulation.

Question 71

After a subject has developed a classically conditioned response, an investigator begins presenting the conditioned stimulus by itself. Which of the following is likely to occur?

A) extinction
B) acquisition
C) spontaneous recovery
D) stimulus generalization

Question 72

The procedure for producing extinction in classical conditioning is to present

A) the conditioned stimulus, then the unconditioned stimulus.
B) nothing.
C) the unconditioned stimulus, followed by nothing.
D) the conditioned stimulus, followed by nothing.

Question 73

In classical conditioning, learning is to unlearning as

A) discrimination is to extinction.
B) acquisition is to extinction.
C) extinction is to generalization.
D) acquisition is to spontaneous recovery.

Question 74

What is spontaneous recovery?

A) a learned decrease in responding
B) an increase in responding after a delay following extinction
C) a response to a stimulus that resembles the stimulus used in training
D) a conditioned response to a stimulus that followed the unconditioned stimulus

Question 75

An investigator presents a conditioned stimulus followed by an unconditioned stimulus until an animal is classically conditioned. Then she exposes the animal to an extinction procedure. If she waits a while and then tests the animal again, she is likely to see

A) spontaneous recovery.
B) backward conditioning.
C) generalization.
D) discrimination.

Question 76

After several pairings of a beeping sound with an electric shock, a person reacts to the beeping sound by flinching, increased heart rate, and other signs of fear. How could someone extinguish this response?

A) Punish the person for any sign of fear.
B) Wait a long time without either the sound or the shocks.
C) Present the shocks after some other sound.
D) Present the beeping sound alone, repeatedly.

Question 77

In an experiment on classical conditioning, the training may go through three steps. If so, the only possible order of those steps is:

A) acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery
B) acquisition, spontaneous recovery, extinction
C) extinction, acquisition, spontaneous recovery
D) spontaneous recovery, acquisition, extinction

Question 78

In an experiment on classical conditioning, an experimenter pairs a tone with a puff of air to the eyes and establishes a conditioned response. If the experimenter now repeatedly presents the tone alone, followed by no airpuff, the probable outcome is

A) acquisition.
B) extinction.
C) generalization.
D) spontaneous recovery.

Question 79

After classically conditioning some response, how might one produce extinction of the response?

A) Repeatedly present the UCS alone, without the CS.
B) Repeatedly present the CS alone, without the UCS.
C) Allow for the passage of time without any further training.
D) Punish any responses.

Question 80

A dog has been trained to salivate whenever it sees a large white square. Now it is shown a large gray square and it salivates, though not quite as much as when it sees the white square. The dog is displaying

A) acquisition.
B) spontaneous recovery.
C) stimulus generalization.
D) conditioned taste aversion.