Deck 5: Learning

Question 1

Sandy had learned that if her mother was smiling at her when she came into the kitchen,it meant that Sandy would probably be given a treat to eat if she asked nicely.But if her mother was frowning,she would not give Sandy anything and instead would shoo her away.Sandy's mother's facial expression was serving as a __________.

A)conditioned stimulus.
B)discriminative stimulus.
C)positive reinforcer.
D)negative reinforcer.

Answer 1

discriminative stimulus.

Question 2

Liz failed her math test,so her parents told her that she could not play video games for a month.Her parents are using __________.

A)positive reinforcement.
B)negative reinforcement.
C)punishment by removal.
D)punishment by application.

Answer 2

punishment by removal.

Question 3

A child has been classically conditioned to fear a white rat.If the child also shows fear when shown a white rabbit,this is called __________.

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

Answer 3

stimulus generalization.

Question 4

Joaquin's parents have given his 2-year-old daughter,Marie,a very noisy jack-in-the-box toy for her birthday.Marie loves to turn the crank and make the puppet pop up,over and over and over.Desperate to have some peace and quiet,Joaquin gives Marie a popsicle,which distracts her and produces the quiet he was craving.But when the popsicle is finished,Marie goes back to the toy,cranking and cranking.Joaquin tries another popsicle.What kind of reinforcement process is taking place in this situation?

A)Marie is being positively reinforced for playing with the toy by receiving the treat.
B)Joaquin is being positively reinforced for giving her the treat by the quiet that follows.
C)Joaquin is being negatively reinforced for giving her the treat by the absence of the noise.
D)Both a and c are correct.

Question 5

You move out of your dorm into an apartment shared with three other people.Unlike the shower in the dorm,this shower does not turn cold when the toilet is flushed,and you eventually stop cringing every time you hear the flushing sound.What has occurred?

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

Question 6

When one conditioned stimulus is used to create another,this is called __________.

A)spontaneous recovery.
B)extinction.
C)higher-order conditioning.
D)shaping.

Question 7

In classical conditioning,the __________ are important in learning,but in operant conditioning,it is the __________ that determine whether learning will occur.

A)antecedents;consequences
B)consequences;antecedents
C)rewards;punishments
D)punishments;rewards

Question 8

In applied behavior analysis,__________.

A)skills are broken down into their smallest steps and then reinforced.
B)punishment by application is often used to control behavior.
C)researchers develop new theories of learning rather than actually solving problems.
D)the basic form of learning used is classical conditioning.

Question 9

For every 10 boxes of cookies that Lisa sells,her scout troop gets a dollar.Lisa is being reinforced on what schedule?

A)fixed ratio
B)fixed interval
C)variable ratio
D)variable interval

Question 10

Learning is __________.

A)any temporary change in behavior.
B)a change in behavior due to maturation.
C)any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience.
D)any permanent change in behavior due to maturation.

Question 11

To make punishment more effective,it should be __________.

A)very intense.
B)applied every other time the bad behavior occurs.
C)an aggressive type,such as spanking.
D)paired with reinforcement of the correct behavior.

Question 12

Tenia ate out with some friends and had fried oysters.The next morning she was nauseated and sick for much of the day.The next time she saw someone eating fried oysters,she felt queasy and quickly looked away.Her queasiness at the sight of the fried oysters was probably due to __________.

A)higher-order conditioning.
B)a conditioned taste aversion.
C)stimulus substitution.
D)stimulus generalization.

Question 13

The key to the cognitive perspective of classical conditioning is that the presentation of the conditioned stimulus must __________.

A)provide information about the coming of the unconditioned response.
B)provide information about the coming of the unconditioned stimulus.
C)provide information about the coming of the conditioned response.
D)act as a substitute for the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 14

Who added the concept of reinforcement to learning theory?

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

Question 15

The fact that some kinds of stimuli (like a taste)are more easily and quickly connected to a response (like nausea)is explained by the concept of __________.

A)biological preparedness.
B)psychological preparedness.
C)instinctive drift.
D)stimulus substitution.

Question 16

Dennis buys a lottery ticket every Saturday,using the same set of numbers.Although he has only won $25 on one occasion,he keeps buying the tickets.In fact,he's a little afraid that if he doesn't buy a ticket,that would be the one that would win really big.The fact that Dennis seems addicted to buying lottery tickets is a common characteristic of which schedule of reinforcement?

A)fixed ratio
B)fixed interval
C)variable ratio
D)variable interval

Question 17

Sherry wants her dog to "heel" on command.At first she gives the dog a treat for coming to her when she speaks the command,"Heel!" Then she only rewards the dog when it stands at her side when she gives the command and,finally,rewards the dog only when it is at her side and facing front.Sherry is using __________.

A)higher-order conditioning.
B)biological readiness.
C)shaping.
D)generalization.

Question 18

One-year-old Ben learned to say the word duck when his mother showed him a duck in their backyard.That evening he sees a cartoon with a rooster in it and says "duck," pointing to the rooster.Ben is exhibiting __________.

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

Question 19

Which of the following is an example of a secondary reinforcer?

A)a candy bar
B)a glass of water
C)petting a dog
D)praising a child

Question 20

In your college dorm,any time you take a shower,someone always flushes the toilet and causes the water in your shower to turn icy cold,making you cringe.After several episodes like this,you find that you tend to cringe whenever you hear a toilet flush,no matter where you are.In this example,what is the conditioned stimulus?

A)the cold water
B)the sound of the flushing
C)the cringing reaction
D)the sight of a toilet

Question 21

Barry would really like to learn to do ballroom dancing,but he has a severe limp in his left leg.Although he watches ballroom dancing on television and can remember all the moves and dips,he will be very unlikely to be able to learn to dance this way because he is missing a key element of observational learning.What is it?

A)attention
B)memory
C)imitation
D)motivation

Question 22

Jody has had repeated failures at asking guys out on dates.Finally,she gives up.One day at the office a really nice guy seems interested in her,but she refuses to even approach him.What concept might explain her reluctance?

A)latent learning
B)learned helplessness
C)insight learning
D)observational learning

Question 23

Archimedes was told by the king to find a way to prove that a gold crown was really gold.While in his bath,he noticed the water that his body displaced out of the tub and shouted,"Eureka!" which means "I have found it!" If the crown was really gold,it should displace the same amount of water as an equal amount of real gold.This is a famous example of __________.

A)latent learning.
B)learned helplessness.
C)insight.
D)observational learning.

Question 24

Jared's father is ill and cannot prepare his famous chili recipe,which Jared has watched his father make many times.When his father tells Jared that he must cook the chili,he panics at first.But then Jared finds that he knows how to put the recipe together anyway.His ability to prepare the recipe is an example of __________.

A)latent learning.
B)learned helplessness.
C)insight learning.
D)discovery learning.

Question 25

Jared realized that he had learned how to prepare his father's famous chili recipe by watching his father in the kitchen for many years.This kind of learning is called __________.

A)discovery learning.
B)helplessness learning.
C)insight learning.
D)observational learning.