Deck 3: Behaviorist Principles and Theories

Question 1

When Julie's father comes home from work he opens the front door and picks her up to give her a big hug. Before long, Julie starts smiling whenever she hears her father turn his key to open the door. In this situation, Julie's smiling at the sound of her father's key turning in the door is an) _____; the hugging is an) _____.

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

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Ivan Pavlov conducted a series of studies that led him to propose his theory of classical conditioning. In these studies, Pavlov observed how a dog learned to:

A) Bark when meat was presented
B) Bark when meat was taken away
C) Wake up when an auditory stimulus
D) Salivate to a simple stimulus such as a light or bell
E)g., a bell) was presented

Answer 2

D

Question 3

At the dentist's office, Teresa has a painful experience that leaves her tense and fearful. The next time her mother brings her to the dentist's office, Teresa begins to get tense and anxious. In this situation, the dentist and dentist's office are _____; Teresa's fear of pain is an) _____.

A) unconditioned stimuli; conditioned response
B) unconditioned responses; conditioned stimulus
C) conditioned stimuli; unconditioned response
D) conditioned responses; unconditioned stimulus

Answer 3

C

Question 4

After repeatedly being hugged by her father when he comes through the door, Julie begins to smile when she hears a key turning to open the door opening by any person. Julie's behavior can be explained by:

A) spontaneous recovery
B) generalization
C) higher-order conditioning
D) stimulus discrimination

Question 5

Nick is extremely anxious whenever he takes a test. From a classical conditioning perspective, a teacher can best reduce his anxiety by:

A) Giving him a few extremely difficult tests at first, and then gradually giving him easier ones
B) Giving him a few easy tests while he is feeling relaxed
C) Reinforcing him for each test question he answers correctly
D) Reassuring him that he can do well if he tries hard

Question 6

Which one of the following statements best describes the view of early behaviorists about how learning can best be studied?

A) Psychologists can determine how learning occurs only if they can identify its physiological basis.
B) Introspection-reporting what and how one is thinking-is likely to yield the most accurate results.
C) To study learning scientifically, researchers must confine their investigations to animal research in a laboratory setting.
D) The study of learning will be more objective and scientific if only observable events are considered.

Question 7

Jacob is suffering from a mild case of flu and, as a result, is feeling a bit nauseous. He decides that he needs to eat something to keep up his strength, so he gets out of bed, puts on a heavy sweater to keep himself warm, heats up a bowl of leftover chili, and settles down in an easy chair to watch a television game show while he eats. A few days later, after Jacob has recovered from the flu, one of the stimuli in the situation just described elicits a feeling of nausea. With the phenomenon of associative bias in mind, choose the stimulus that is most likely to elicit nausea.

A) The sweater
B) The chili
C) The easy chair
D) The television game show

Question 8

Which one of the following best describes contemporary theorists' perspective on classical conditioning?

A) Cognitive factors, such as mental representations of stimuli and predictions that organisms make, must often be considered in addition to observable stimuli and responses.
B) Despite Pavlov's early findings to the contrary, higher-order conditioning and generalization seldom occur.
C) Classical conditioning typically occurs only in conjunction with operant conditioning; for example, conditioned stimuli elicit conditioned responses only when those responses are followed by reinforcement.
D) Classical conditioning occurs primarily in artificial laboratory conditions; it rarely occurs in more naturalistic, real-life settings.

Question 9

Paul is usually successful on the math problems his teacher assigns at school, although he occasionally fails on one or two problems. In contrast, Peter's experiences with mathematics are almost always associated with frustration and failure. Considering contemporary views of the roles of contiguity and contingency in classical conditioning, who will acquire classically conditioned anxiety regarding mathematics?

A) Both Paul and Peter will develop a considerable degree of mathematics anxiety.
B) Only Paul will develop math anxiety, because the relationship between math and failure is unpredictable.
C) Only Peter will develop math anxiety, because whenever math is presented, failure always follows.
D) Neither Paul nor Peter will develop math anxiety, because neither situation reflects contingency of the CS and UCS.

Question 10

After a painful experience at one dentist's office, Teresa's mother takes Teresa to a different dentist, who takes great care to make her visits painless. Teresa is anxious at first, but after a few visits, Teresa gradually becomes less resistant about going to the new dentist. Teresa's change in behavior can probably best be explained in terms of _____. But then Teresa doesn't go to see the dentist again until three years later. On her first visit to the painless dentist after that time interval, she is anxious once again, even though she had not been anxious in her previous visits. The return of this response after it had previously disappeared is known as _____.

A) extinction; spontaneous recovery
B) generalization; discriminative learning
C) higher-order conditioning; discriminative learning
D) generalization; higher-order conditioning

Question 11

Which one of the following educational practices is most clearly derived from behaviorist principles?

A) Having students make overt responses
B) Teaching students how to apply information
C) Asking students to generate questions about what they read
D) Presenting information in a logical sequence that stresses interrelationships among idea

Question 12

David is addicted to a drug that increases his blood sugar level, temporarily giving him more energy. David always takes this drug in the bathroom. He finds that he becomes tired when he enters the bathroom and also that he needs more and more of the drug to maintain the same high energy level. From the perspective of classical conditioning, which one of the following is the most likely explanation of David's increasing addiction to the drug?

A) Lowering blood sugar level to counteract the effect of the drug has become a conditioned response to the "bathroom" stimulus.
B) David has learned to respond to some drugs but not to others through the combined processes of stimulus discrimination and higher-order conditioning.
C) Taking the drugs provides negative reinforcement, in that David no longer feels tired.
D) Associative bias has predisposed David to associate the bathroom with fatigue.

Question 13

When behaviorists describe an organism as a "black box," they mean that:

A) Many stimuli have no noticeable effect on the organism.
B) Learning processes occurring within the organism cannot be studied scientifically.
C) Learning is, by its very nature, something that takes place outside the organism.
D) An organism makes many responses even in the absence of any observed external stimulus.

Question 14

Which one of the following responses is most likely to be learned through classical conditioning?

A) Feeling anxious around horses
B) Taking a walk on a nice day
C) Doing homework
D) Waving to a friend

Question 15

If students associate failure with punishment, and then associate playing sports with failure, they may begin to fear playing sports through a process of:

A) generalization
B) spontaneous recovery
C) higher-order conditioning
D) stimulus discrimination

Question 16

Gina became ill after eating Turkey on Thanksgiving and was unable to look at Turkey without feeling ill for two months. However, during that two-month period Gina was able to look at chicken without feeling ill. Gina's behavior when presented with chicken is explained by:

A) Generalization
B) extinguishing a conditioned response
C) stimulus discrimination
D) counterconditioning

Question 17

Classical conditioning typically occurs when:

A) A response is followed by two stimuli
B) A response is followed by a single aversive stimulus
C) Two stimuli are presented at about the same time
D) Two responses occur usually coincidentally) at about the same time

Question 18

Extinction is one method of eliminating undesirable conditioned responses, but there are several problems associated with its use. Which one is not a problem encountered in using extinction?

A) Some responses extinguish slowly, if at all.
B) Extinguished responses may reappear through spontaneous recovery.
C) Extinction often occurs too quickly to be controlled.
D) Organisms tend to stay away from stimuli they have learned to fear, thus preventing their exposure to the conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 19

After being bitten by a neighbor's dog, Kathy is now afraid of the puppy her family has just adopted. Kathy's father gives Kathy a hot fudge sundae; then, while she is happily eating it, he brings the puppy about fifteen feet from where she is sitting. On each successive day, Kathy gets another ice cream treat, and her father brings the puppy a little closer than he did on the previous day. Eventually Kathy is able to pet and enjoy the new puppy. Kathy's father is using a procedure known as:

A) generalization
B) stimulus discrimination
C) extinction
D) counterconditioning

Question 20

Which one of the following statements best reflects behaviorists' notion of tabula rasa "blank slate")?

A) Organisms inherit few predispositions to behave in particular ways; instead, the behaviors they exhibit are largely the result of environmental experiences.
B) Stimuli that occur after responses are made are usually more influential on an organism's learning that stimuli that occur before responses are made.
C) The things that organisms learn in a new situation largely override the things that they've learned in previous situations; as a result, newly learned behaviors often replace previously learned behaviors.
D) Learning is more a function of what the environment does to the organism than of what the organism does to the environment; in other words, the organism plays a relatively passive role in the learning process.

Question 21

Imagine that you want to improve a distractible child's ability to sit still and listen in class. Which one of the following procedures illustrates how you might use shaping to do so?

A) Explain the purpose of sitting quietly before reinforcement begins.
B) Reinforce the child for sitting still on some occasions, but not on others.
C) Reinforce the child for sitting still and listening for only a minute, then for progressively longer and longer periods of time.
D) Frequently change the specific consequence you use to reinforce sitting still-and-listening behavior
E)g., you might use candy a few times, then praise, then privileges, and so on).

Question 22

A child who was once spanked for running into a busy street no longer runs into the street. This can best be explained by which one of the following?

A) Pavlov's concept of extinction
B) Thorndike's original law of effect
C) Thorndike's revised law of effect
D) Skinner's basic principle of operant conditioning

Question 23

Which one of the following is a primary reinforcer?

A) A cookie
B) A good grade
C) A thousand dollars
D) A feeling of pride about a job well done

Question 24

Warren has earned himself a reputation for being the class clown. His teacher, Ms. Washington, used to laugh at Warren's funny remarks, but is now trying to discourage Warren's disruptive behavior by ignoring his jokes. In behaviorist terminology, Ms. Washington is now trying to modify Warren's joke-telling behavior through:

A) stimulus discrimination
B) extinction
C) shaping
D) negative reinforcement

Question 25

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are two learning paradigms within the behaviorist tradition. A major difference between these two paradigms is that:

A) Classical conditioning deals almost exclusively with stimuli, whereas operant conditioning deals almost exclusively with responses.
B) Classical conditioning deals almost exclusively with responses, whereas operant conditioning deals almost exclusively with stimuli.
C) Classically conditioned responses are voluntary, whereas responses learned through operant conditioning are elicited by specific stimuli.
D) Classically conditioned responses are elicited by specific stimuli, whereas responses learned through operant conditioning are voluntary.

Question 26

David's mother insists that he vacuum the living room carpet. But when she sees how haphazardly he vacuums he misses two-thirds of the carpet), she tells him, "Never mind, I'll do it!" David's escape of household chores:

A) positively reinforced
B) negatively reinforced
C) punished
D) an example of passive avoidance learning

Question 27

Thorndike's original law of effect described the ways in which the learning of a response:

A) has an effect on other organisms
B) has an effect on stimuli in the environment
C) has an effect on other responses
D) is affected by the consequences of that response

Question 28

Which one of the following is an example of negative reinforcement?

A) When Kevin does his homework, his teacher praises him profusely, to the point that it embarrasses him.
B) When Kathleen insults another student while waiting in line for lunch, her teacher moves her to the end of the line.
C) When Lucas complains about a classmate who is picking on him, his teacher allows him to come in from recess on bitterly cold days.
D) When Priscilla answers a teacher's question incorrectly, Mike teases her unmercifully.

Question 29

Feedback about one's performance is most likely to be effective when it:

A) Is given after a short delay perhaps 30 minutes after the performance)
B) Describes only the things that the person has done correctly
C) Comes from a peer rather than from an authority figure
D) Provides information about how to improve

Question 30

Mr. Loosigian is worried about Jerri, a girl who is struggling in his seventh grade class. He thinks about several different reasons why she might be having so much difficulty with her schoolwork. Which one of the possible reasons that he considers is consistent with a behaviorist perspective of learning?

A) "Maybe she isn't paying attention as much as she should be."
B) "Maybe I don't praise her enough when she does something well."
C) "Maybe she has trouble understanding the things she reads."
D) "Maybe she has trouble remembering things from one day to the next."

Question 31

Six-year-old Jack has recently learned to appreciate the value of money, so his father assigns him some simple housekeeping chores to be performed throughout the week. He tells Jack that completion of these chores will earn him an allowance of one dollar every Saturday. Jack rarely completes his chores. From an operant conditioning perspective, which one of the following is most likely to be the reason why Jack is not doing his chores?

A) There is a delay in reinforcement.
B) Reinforcement is not contingent on the desired response.
C) Money is rarely an effective reinforcer for people.
D) The "reinforcer" is presented before the response.

Question 32

Mr. Smart tells his students that they can do whatever they want for the first ten minutes of class but must then turn their attention to the day's assignment. The students are delighted with their ten minutes of free time but they don't attend to the assignment when it's time to do so. From an operant conditioning perspective, what mistake has Mr. Smart made?

A) There is a delay in reinforcement.
B) He has used negative reinforcement instead of positive reinforcement.
C) Free time is not an effective reinforcer for the students.
D) The "reinforcer" is presented before the response.

Question 33

When Lily is presented with money after many different behaviors

A) Classical conditioning
B) Instrumental conditioning
C) Transituational generality
D) Secondary reinforcement theory
E)g., cleaning her room, getting a good grade or eating her vegetables) she is more likely to perform each of those behaviors. The fact that this single reinforcer i.e., money) can increase many of Lily's behaviors is explained by:

Question 34

Which one of the following is the best example of intrinsic reinforcement?

A) Getting a new outfit you think is "cool"
B) Being allowed to play basketball at a friend's house after you finish your homework
C) Being told that you did a good job
D) Feeling good about your own generosity toward a less fortunate classmate

Question 35

Good grades are reinforcing to some children but not to others. Someone explaining this fact from an early operant conditioning perspective would say that good grades are most likely to be reinforcers to children who:

A) Have never received a grade above C
B) Come from middle-income or upper-income backgrounds
C) Have previously associated those grades with primary reinforcers
D) Have been told that good grades are important for getting a college scholarship

Question 36

A ski instructor is teaching a class of beginning skiers how to do a snowplow turn. She first teaches her students to stand with the fronts of their skis together and the backs of their skis far apart. She then has her students bend their knees slightly and lean forward in this "snowplow" position. After the students can do these two things successfully, the instructor has them add more behaviors to the sequence: gliding across the side of a gentle slope in a snowplow, putting their body weight on the downhill ski, gradually turning downhill, and so on. The instructor praises her students each time they successfully add a new movement to the sequence. In behaviorist terminology, the procedure that the ski instructor is using can best be described as:

A) the Premack principle
B) chaining
C) a differential schedule of reinforcement
D) higher-level conditioning
Note: Questions 39 and 40 both refer to the same situation.

Question 37

Which one of the following is the best example of a social reinforcer?

A) Getting a new outfit you think is "cool"
B) Being allowed to play basketball at a friend's house after you finish your homework
C) Being told that you did a good job
D) Feeling good about your own generosity toward a less fortunate classmate

Question 38

Which one of the following best illustrates Skinner's concept of superstitious behavior?

A) Alice is praised for her accurate bookkeeping at work. After that, she continues to keep accurate books at work. She also begins to be more careful about balancing her personal checkbook each month, even though she receives no reinforcement for doing so.
B) Bradley thinks his reinforcement for cleaning his apartment is the good feeling that a clean place gives him. In reality, he cleans only when company is coming, and it is his company that makes him feel good.
C) Charlotte misinterprets a teacher's praise as sarcasm and therefore as punishment rather than reinforcement.
D) David usually struggles with his geography exams, but he recently got high scores on two occasions when he wore a Denver Broncos sweatshirt to school. He now wears his Broncos sweatshirt whenever a geography test is scheduled.

Question 39

Ms. Washington tries to ignore Warren when he tells jokes in class. But sometimes Warren tells a joke so funny that Ms. Washington laughs in spite of herself. Rather than decreasing his joke-telling, Warren begins telling even more outrageous jokes. Inadvertently, Ms. Washington is modifying Warren's joke-telling behavior through:

A) stimulus discrimination
B) extinction
C) shaping
D) negative reinforcement

Question 40

Bill's behaviors in Ms. Kennedy's class are really distracting to other students. For example, he whispers to the boy beside him when Ms. Kennedy is giving directions on how to do any assignment. He flings paper clips at a girl across the room. He makes strange grunting noises that a few classmates find amusing. Ms. Kennedy glares at him or admonishes him whenever he behaves in a distracting way, yet his inappropriate behaviors are increasing rather than decreasing. Which one of the following interpretations of this situation best explains why Bill's behaviors are increasing?

A) Ms. Kennedy is positively reinforcing him for the distracting behaviors.
B) Ms. Kennedy is negatively reinforcing him for the distracting behaviors.
C) Ms. Kennedy is vicariously reinforcing him for the distracting behaviors.
D) Ms. Kennedy is punishing him for the distracting behaviors.

Question 41

Martin went to two or three school dances but felt uncomfortable and self-conscious at them. Martin no longer goes to school dances. His lack of attendance is an example of:

A) Passive avoidance learning
B) Active avoidance learning
C) Punishment I
D) Punishment II

Question 42

Mr. McDonald wants his students to ask him for help on their geometry problems only after they have tried to solve the problems independently for at least five minutes. Mr. McDonald should reinforce students' help-seeking behavior on a ___________ schedule.

A) fixed ratio
B) variable ratio
C) differential rate of low responding
D) differential rate of high responding

Question 43

An avoidance behavior of a previously aversive situation is particularly difficult to extinguish because:

A) It has typically been reinforced on a fixed ratio schedule.
B) It has typically been reinforced on a variable ratio schedule.
C) It has typically been reinforced on a variable interval schedule.
D) The learner has no opportunity to learn that the situation is no longer aversive.

Question 44

Lori has learned that when she wants to say something in class, she must raise her hand before doing so. At home, however, she speaks without ever raising her hand ahead of time. We can say that the classroom has become an) ____ for Lori's hand-raising behavior.

A) generalized stimulus
B) antecedent stimulus
C) positive stimulus
D) negative reinforce

Question 45

A teacher wants to encourage her students to work cooperatively with one another as they study classroom subject matter. If she were to use the concept of a setting event to encourage such cooperative behavior, she would:

A) Praise her students when they cooperate with one another.
B) First give students a task in which they can't work with one another.
C) Say "I like how Sally and John are helping one another today" loudly enough that other students can hear.
D) Provide instructional materials that students can use only by working together.

Question 46

Which one of the following statements best describes behaviorists' two-step theory of avoidance learning?

A) Avoidance of the aversive stimulus is negatively reinforced by the presence of the pre-aversive stimulus.
B) Remaining in the situation is punished by the aversive stimulus; avoiding it is positively reinforced by the pre-aversive stimulus.
C) Fear of the pre-aversive stimulus is classically conditioned, and escape from that stimulus is negatively reinforced.
D) Escape responses occur prior to avoidance responses.

Question 47

In the basement of Marcy's college dormitory is a Coke machine that dispenses a can of Coke whenever someone firmly pounds the side of the machine. Marcy is delighted when she discovers this fact, because she can now get Cokes from the machine without having to pay for them. One morning a repairman fixes the machine. The next time Marcy goes to get a soft drink from the machine, she finds that her usual pounding strategy doesn't yield her the Coke she wants. But rather than insert the required coins to purchase a drink, Marcy begins pounding the side of the machine vigorously for several minutes. In behaviorist terminology, Marcy's behavior at this point can best be described as:

A) an extinction burst
B) discrimination
C) shaping
D) a response reinforced by an activity reinforcer

Question 48

Mark's previous girlfriend always told him how handsome he looked whenever he wore his green sweater. Tonight Mark is going out with a new girlfriend and puts on the same green sweater. In behaviorist terminology, Mark is:

A) on a differential rate of low responding schedule
B) showing generalization
C) on a fixed interval schedule
D) showing stimulus discrimination

Question 49

Sharon has learned that her language arts teacher answers her questions willingly but that her biology teacher discourages questions. Sharon therefore asks questions in language arts but not in biology. In behaviorist terminology, Sharon is:

A) on a differential rate of low responding schedule
B) showing generalization
C) on a fixed interval schedule
D) under stimulus control

Question 50

A teacher claps his hands together loudly three times as a way of reminding his students that they need to talk more quietly during their free time at the end of the day. In behaviorist terminology, his strategy can best be described as:

A) cueing
B) an intermittent schedule
C) negative reinforcement
D) a setting event

Question 51

DeeDee is upset that she has been taken off the basketball team because of a failing grade in her history class. The consequence of DeeDee's failure in history is an example of:

A) Positive reinforcement
B) Negative reinforcement
C) Punishment I
D) Punishment II

Question 52

Which one of the following is the best example of punishment as behaviorists define it?

A) Kelly has been acting up in the classroom all year. Her teacher's frequent reprimands haven't made much of a difference in Kelly's behavior.
B) Leo is a real distraction to his classmates, often burping in a way that makes other students laugh. His teacher places him in a corner where others can't hear him burping.
C) Whenever Marvin has trouble sitting still, his teacher has him run up and down the hall three times to release pent-up energy.
D) After Nora spends a few minutes in the time-out room for hurting a classmate's feelings, she is more careful not to hurt her peers' feelings in the future.

Question 53

John and Bill have both learned that when they whine and complain, their teacher will hurry over to see what's wrong. John's teacher gives him attention every time he complains. However, Bill's teacher gives him attention only on some of the occasions he complains. Both teachers eventually realize that they are reinforcing the boys for inappropriate behavior and so both stop attending to the boys when they whine and complain. From a behaviorist perspective, we can predict that:

A) Both boys will whine and complain even more than before.
B) Both boys will stop their whining and complaining almost immediately.
C) Bill's complaining will decrease more rapidly than John's.
D) John's complaining will decrease more rapidly than Bill's.

Question 54

At the beginning of the school year, Mr. Webber is concerned that Frances rarely does her independent seatwork. He begins praising Frances for each seatwork assignment she completes, and by January she is completing her assignments regularly. To make sure that the behavior continues in the years to come, what would behaviorists tell Mr. Webber to do now?

A) Praise her more often than before.
B) Praise her for only some of her completed assignments.
C) Punish Frances when she doesn't complete an assignment.
D) Switch from a social reinforcer to an activity reinforcer.

Question 55

Mandy has learned that whenever her father comes home drunk, he is likely to yell at her, so she usually goes to her friend's house before he has the chance. In this situation, the father's coming home drunk is:

A) Punishment I
B) Punishment II
C) An unconditioned stimulus
D) A pre-aversive stimulus

Question 56

George has learned that if he pesters his father about using the family Cadillac enough times, his father will eventually break down and give George the keys to the Cadillac. George's "pestering" behavior is apparently being reinforced on a ___________ schedule.

A) variable ratio
B) variable interval
C) fixed interval
D) differential rate of low responding

Question 57

Which one of the following alternatives best describes instrumental conditioning?

A) Learning to use man-made tools in order to accomplish difficult tasks more easily
B) Learning to behave in ways that either bring pleasure or reduce the likelihood of aversive events
C) Learning that certain stimuli in one's environment often bring either physical or psychological pain
D) Learning complex sequences of psychomotor behaviors
E)g., dribbling and then shooting a basketball)

Question 58

A physics teacher wants her students to work on several difficult physics problems that involve calculating velocity, acceleration, or time using the formula v = a $\times$ t. The teacher first has her students work on a few easy problems involving the formula. She then presents the more difficult problems; when she does so, she finds that her students are reasonably persistent in working at the problems, and most of them eventually solve the problems correctly. By using the easy problems to promote persistence in her students during the more difficult ones, the teacher is, in behaviorist terminology, using the concept of:

A) cueing
B) behavioral momentum
C) a DRL schedule
D) a DRH schedule

Question 59

Tiffany is a hyperactive child who rarely sits still for more than 30 seconds at a time. Ms. Garcia decides to use positive reinforcement to help Tiffany learn to sit quietly in her seat during class time. Which one of the following approaches will bring about the fastest change in Tiffany's behavior?

A) a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement
B) a variable interval schedule of reinforcement
C) continuous reinforcement
D) a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement

Question 60

Which one of the following accurately describes the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment?

A) Negative reinforcement is essentially the same as punishment, but without the negative connotations that punishment has.
B) Negative reinforcement increases the frequency of behavior, whereas punishment decreases it.
C) Negative reinforcement always decreases the frequency of behavior, whereas punishment often increases it.
D) Both consequences decrease behavior, but punishment is more likely to make students angry and defiant.

Question 61

Nadia is an only child who lives on a ranch that is located many miles from the homes of other children. Although she enjoys being with her peers at school, she is often physically aggressive toward them. School personnel have made many small attempts to curb Nadia's aggression for example, they have scolded her, kept her in from recess, and put her in a time-out situation) but always without success. They are now thinking about taking more drastic measures. According to the textbook, which one of the following is most likely to be effective?

A) Putting Nadia in in-school suspension
B) Giving Nadia extra classwork in school subjects she knows well
C) Scolding Nadia in front of her peers about her inappropriate behavior
D) Suspending Nadia from school

Question 62

In each of the following situations, a person is learning through either reinforcement or punishment. Classify each situation as involving one of these four consequences: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, Punishment I, or Punishment II. Then explain why you chose the answer you did.
a. Because Danielle fails her math class, she is taken off the school dance squad.
b. Joe always does his homework assignments as soon as he gets them so he won't have to worry about them anymore.
c. Lisa and Fran are giggling together in the back of the classroom. Their teacher scowls at them. They are embarrassed and shut up.
d. A teacher finds that by yelling at her students when they get too rowdy, they will settle down and be quiet for a while. Focus on what is happening to the teacher.)

Question 63

Which one of the following statements best describes research findings regarding the effectiveness of verbally reprimanding

A) Reprimands rarely reduce inappropriate behavior.
B) Reprimands are more effective when they're brief and unemotional.
C) Reprimands are effective only when they embarrass children to some extent.
D) Severe reprimands are more effective than mild ones.
E)g., scolding) children?

Question 64

When Rochelle has an on-the-road lesson as part of her driver education class, she fails to stop at a school crossing zone, as is required by law. Her instructor has her drive around the block several times and stop each time at the crossing zone. He also insists that, once she has stopped, she must wait at least eight seconds before proceeding. The instructor's strategy illustrates the use of _______ as a way of bringing about behavior change.

A) An intermittent reinforcement schedule
B) Positive-practice overcorrection
C) Response cost
D) Restitution

Question 65

Last week Gretel was accidentally hurt in her physical education class when a much larger student ran into her and knocked her to the floor. Gretel is now afraid to go to physical education. Explain this situation in terms of classical conditioning, identifying the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR.

Question 66

Julie gets very upset when her mother will not let her help her bake cookies. Julie yells at her mother and throws flour all over the kitchen. Julie's mother makes Julie clean up all of the flour and do all of the dishes Julie's mother created from baking the cookies. Her mother's punishment was a form of:

A) Positive-practice overcorrection
B) Response cost
C) Restitutional overcorrection
D) Punishment II

Question 67

Which one of the following is the major reason why assigning extra schoolwork is not an appropriate punishment for classroom misbehavior?

A) It gives students the message that classwork is an unpleasant task.
B) It decreases the likelihood that students will do their assignments appropriately.
C) It asks students to perform tasks without the support they need to complete those tasks successfully.
D) It is negative reinforcement rather than punishment.

Question 68

Classify each of the following situations as involving either classical conditioning or operant conditioning. In each case, defend your answer by analyzing the situation within the context of the learning paradigm you have chosen.
a. A father reminds his son James to be quiet at the dinner table. James stops talking, and his father smiles at him.
b. Ralph's friend offers him an illegal drug. Ralph takes the drug and finds that it makes him feel euphoric. Ralph begins to buy the drug himself and takes it more and more frequently.
c. Linda is a bright, academically capable girl. Once, when she was sick, she failed an important test. Now she is very anxious whenever she takes a test.

Question 69

Explain the difference between continuous reinforcement and intermittent reinforcement. When is each most useful?

Question 70

You are giving tennis lessons to a beginning tennis player. Describe how you would teach the proper tennis swing. Specify:
a. A reasonable end result toward which you would work
b. A reinforcer you might use
c. When you would use continuous reinforcement
d. When you would use intermittent reinforcement

Question 71

On several occasions, Edward is yelled at by his soccer coach. Before long, Edward begins to shake whenever he drives to soccer practice.
a. Explain this situation in terms of classical conditioning, identifying the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR.
b. Edward soon shows signs of fearing other men in addition to his soccer coach, even though they have never yelled at him. Identify and describe the classical conditioning process that accounts for Edward's fear of men.
c. Explain how you might eliminate Edward's fear of men through a process of counterconditioning.

Question 72

Behaviorist theories tend to share a number of common underlying assumptions. In five short paragraphs, describe five of these assumptions.

Question 73

Tammy is scolded for submitting a messy math homework paper, so she tries to do her math problems more neatly after that. The scolding Tammy received is an example of:

A) Positive reinforcement
B) Negative reinforcement
C) Punishment I
D) Punishment II

Question 74

In Mr. Marshall's classroom, students who acquire 10 points in one day can have 20 minutes of free time at the end of the day. Mr. Marshall awards points to his students for good behavior and deducts points if they misbehave. The deduction of points for misbehavior is known as:

A) time-out
B) restitution
C) response cost
D) in-house suspension

Question 75

Shelby rarely interacts with her peers. She is obviously quite lonely but apparently has no confidence in her ability to make friends. Using a behaviorist perspective, describe how you might help Shelby develop social skills through shaping. In your discussion, be sure to include:
a. The specific behaviors) you would shape
b. A specific reinforcer you might use, and why you make the choice you do
c. The sequence of steps you might take as you shape the desired behavior

Question 76

When Judy becomes verbally aggressive toward her peers, she is placed in a quiet and boring room for five minutes. The procedure being used here is most commonly known as:

A) time-out
B) systematic desensitization
C) response cost
D) in-house suspension

Question 77

Three of the following statements reflect contemporary perspectives of instrumental conditioning and reinforcement. Which one does not?

A) Punishment has a more pronounced effect on behavior than reinforcement does.
B) Behavior can sometimes be better understood if we look at complex environmental conditions rather than at simple, specific stimuli.
C) Instrumental conditioning can more adequately be explained when we talk about mental processes as well as observable events.
D) Any single consequence may be more or less reinforcing depending on a learner's particular motives at the time.

Question 78

Stacey dislikes physical education class because her classmates tease her about her lack of strength and coordination. One day Stacey unintentionally hits one of her classmates, and the teacher sends her to the principal's office for the remainder of the class time. Stacey becomes increasingly aggressive in class and so spends more and more time in the principal's office. Use one or more concepts and/or principles from behaviorism to explain why Stacey has become more rather than less) aggressive.

Question 79

Jimmy misbehaved in class and his teacher punished him by forcing him to skip recess. Withholding recess is generally an ineffective form of punishment because:

A) teachers do not consider recess a pleasant stimulus.
B) many arguments arise during recess making it a negative situation for most children.
C) recess provides a break from academic activities, which improves children's concentration.
D) recess is too short of a time interval.

Question 80

Distinguish among positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, Punishment I, and Punishment II. Give an example of each.