Question 1

Consider the following example: "Kendra stays out two hours past curfew. As a result of her tardiness, her parents take away her privileges to go out for two weeks. The next time Kendra goes out she makes sure to come home on time." This is an example of _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  Positive reinforcement 
B)  Negative reinforcement 
C)  Positive punishment 
D)  Negative punishment

Question 2

Which of the following statements most closely summarizes Skinner's criticism of Thorndike's law of effect?

Accepted Answer

A)  Latency as a dependent variable doesn't tell us anything about how the behavior changes 
B)  Trial suggests that the organism is consciously working to understand the environment 
C)  The law of effect focuses too much on the internal thoughts of the organism 
D)  Puzzle boxes are too artificial an environment to understand real behavior change

Question 3

Consider the following example: "Bob is running late for work so he drives faster than usual. As a result of his increased speed, Bob is pulled over by a police officer and receives a ticket. The next time Bob is running late for work he drives the correct speed." This is an example of _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  Positive reinforcement 
B)  Negative reinforcement 
C)  Positive punishment 
D)  Negative punishment

Question 4

In terms of response stereotypes, variability, and reinforcement, the work by Barry Schwartz shows that reinforcement can produce _____ patterns of behavior while the work of Neuringer and colleagues indicates that reinforcement can produce ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  Stereotyped; response stability 
B)  Stereotyped; response variability 
C)  Response variability; stereotyped 
D)  Response stability; response variability

Question 5

As you are examining the cumulative record produced by the rat you are training in the laboratory, you notice that the graph shows several spots where the line is very steep, followed almost immediately by the line going flat (horizontal). What does this change from a steep line to a horizontal line most likely mean has happened?

Accepted Answer

A)  A reinforcer occurred for the target behavior 
B)  A punisher occurred for the target behavior 
C)  The rate of the target behavior reached its maximum 
D)  The organism stopped responding to explore other parts of the chamber

Question 6

In order to treat her son's frequent tantrums while out shopping, Ruby put his tantrum behavior on extinction by refusing to buy any treats when he tantrums in the store. This works and her son does not tantrum any more while shopping. Then, suddenly, the tantrum behavior reappears one day while they are out shopping. This reappearance of the previously extinguished behavior is an example of:

Accepted Answer

A)  Reappearance 
B)  Spontaneous recovery 
C)  Generalization 
D)  Extinction burst

Question 7

A "closed" sign on a store is an example of _____ for our door-opening behavior.

Accepted Answer

A)  Discriminative stimulus 
B)  Partial reinforcement 
C)  Discriminated extinction 
D)  Shaping

Question 8

Williams (1959) found that the bedtime tantrum behavior of a 20-month-old was maintained by ___________________ and that the parents' behavior of giving in to the tantrum was maintained by ________________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  Negative reinforcement; positive reinforcement 
B)  Positive reinforcement; negative reinforcement 
C)  Negative reinforcement; negative reinforcement 
D)  Positive reinforcement; positive reinforcement

Question 9

In negative punishment, a stimulus is ______ and as a result behavior ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  Removed; decreases 
B)  Added; decreases 
C)  Removed; increases 
D)  Added; increases

Question 10

Kobayashi and colleagues demonstrated that the presentation of juice in the mouth following a spike in neural activity could be used as a reinforcer for activity in the _____ of Japanese monkeys.

Accepted Answer

A)  Lateral prefrontal cortex (LPF
C)  
B)  Visual cortex 
C)  The somatosensory cortex 
D)  The amygdala

Question 11

The term operant comes from the verb _________________ and refers to behavior that _____________.

Accepted Answer

A)  Opponent; opposes its consequences in a given environment 
B)  Opendum; opens the door to its effects on a given occasion 
C)  Operate; operates on the environment to produce effects 
D)  Opara; presents the opportunity to respond on a given occasion

Question 12

What defines a contingency of reinforcement?

Accepted Answer

A)  Discriminative stimulus 
B)  Operant 
C)  Reinforcement 
D)  All of these

Question 13

Consider the following example: "Joanne is very fair skinned. In order to not get sunburned, she puts on sunscreen before she goes to the beach." This is an example of ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  Positive reinforcement 
B)  Negative reinforcement 
C)  Positive punishment 
D)  Negative punishment

Question 14

Consider the following example: "Your phone won't allow you to make a call so you turn it off and then back on again. After this your phone allows you to make a call." Identify the operant in this example.

Accepted Answer

A)  Your phone allowing you to make calls 
B)  Your phone no longer allowing you to make calls 
C)  Turning the phone on and off 
D)  This is respondent, not operant, conditioning

Question 15

An operant class is:

Accepted Answer

A)  All of the variations of behavior that produce the environmental changes required for reinforcement 
B)  The different types of reinforcers that can be produced by a particular behavior 
C)  All of the stimuli that set the occasion for a particular behavior 
D)  A specific instance of a stimulus-behavior-reinforcer relation

Question 16

Which of the following best illustrates a study using the free-operant method?

Accepted Answer

A)  A rat receives an electric shock following a 5-second light-on interval 
B)  A rat is required to run in a maze until it finds the food box and is then removed from the box 
C)  A rat is placed in a chamber for one hour with a lever available that delivers food after every 10th response 
D)  A rat is given free access to high-calorie food, is subsequently euthanized, and then its brain is compared to the brains of rats that ate only low-calorie foods

Question 17

In positive reinforcement, a stimulus is ______ and as a result behavior _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  Removed; decreases 
B)  Added; decreases 
C)  Removed; increases 
D)  Added; increases

Question 18

To experimentally study the probability of response, a researcher uses ____ as the basic measure and follows the ____ method.

Accepted Answer

A)  Operant rate; T-maze 
B)  Latency; T-maze 
C)  Operant rate; free operant 
D)  Latency; free operant

Question 19

Studies using Drosophila indicate that the gene ___________ is necessary for __________________ learning to occur.

Accepted Answer

A)  FoxP; behavior consequence 
B)  FoxP; stimulus relations 
C)  HIF1⍺; behavior consequence 
D)  HIF1⍺; stimulus relations

Question 20

Which of the following is not one of the four basic contingencies?

Accepted Answer

A)  Positive reinforcement 
B)  Positive extinction 
C)  Negative punishment 
D)  Negative reinforcement

Exam 4: Reinforcement and Extinction of Operant Behavior

Consider the following example: "Kendra stays out two hours past curfew. As a result of her tardiness, her parents take away her privileges to go out for two weeks. The next time Kendra goes out she makes sure to come home on time." This is an example of _____.

Which of the following statements most closely summarizes Skinner's criticism of Thorndike's law of effect?

Consider the following example: "Bob is running late for work so he drives faster than usual. As a result of his increased speed, Bob is pulled over by a police officer and receives a ticket. The next time Bob is running late for work he drives the correct speed." This is an example of _____.

In terms of response stereotypes, variability, and reinforcement, the work by Barry Schwartz shows that reinforcement can produce _ patterns of behavior while the work of Neuringer and colleagues indicates that reinforcement can produce ____.

A "closed" sign on a store is an example of _____ for our door-opening behavior.

Williams (1959) found that the bedtime tantrum behavior of a 20-month-old was maintained by _ and that the parents' behavior of giving in to the tantrum was maintained by ______.

In negative punishment, a stimulus is and as a result behavior .

Kobayashi and colleagues demonstrated that the presentation of juice in the mouth following a spike in neural activity could be used as a reinforcer for activity in the _____ of Japanese monkeys.

The term operant comes from the verb _____ and refers to behavior that _.

What defines a contingency of reinforcement?

Consider the following example: "Joanne is very fair skinned. In order to not get sunburned, she puts on sunscreen before she goes to the beach." This is an example of ______.

Consider the following example: "Your phone won't allow you to make a call so you turn it off and then back on again. After this your phone allows you to make a call." Identify the operant in this example.

An operant class is:

Which of the following best illustrates a study using the free-operant method?

In positive reinforcement, a stimulus is __ and as a result behavior _.

To experimentally study the probability of response, a researcher uses as the basic measure and follows the method.

Studies using Drosophila indicate that the gene _ is necessary for ________ learning to occur.

Which of the following is not one of the four basic contingencies?