Question 1

Children are often aware of which conditions are most favorable when asking a parent for an advance on their allowance.Psychologists call such conditions ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  discriminative conditioned stimuli 
B)  secondary reinforcers 
C)  primary reinforcers 
D)  conditioned stimuli

Question 2

The most critical component of skill learning is ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  acquisition 
B)  guidance 
C)  practice 
D)  imagination

Question 3

Your knowledge of the word frog is made up of your knowledge of the four letters in that word,as well as all the frog knowledge you have,and any other froglike experiences.This best describes ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  biopreparedness 
B)  distributed memory 
C)  linguistic aptitude 
D)  stimulus control

Question 4

Chris does not like it when his infant son,Jacob,cries.Chris finds that if he makes goofy faces while Jacob is crying,Jacob will stop.Which learning principle best explains why Chris is more likely to make goofy faces in the future to make Jacob stop crying?

Accepted Answer

A)  positive reinforcement 
B)  classical conditioning 
C)  negative reinforcement 
D)  stimulus generalization

Question 5

Shamir reflexively kicks his leg when the doctor taps him on the knee.Then,the doctor begins saying the word "Help" and then tapping Shamir on the knee.After forty-five trials of first saying "Help," followed immediately by tapping the knee,on the forty-sixth trial,Shamir kicks his leg after hearing the word "Help." In this example,the word "Help" is the ____,and Shamir kicking his leg in response to the word "Help" is the ____.

Accepted Answer

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

Question 6

Tim doesn't want to run into his ex-girlfriend on campus,so he changes the route that he used to take to get to class when he sees her.The first day this occurs,Tim does not run into his ex-girlfriend.Tim ends up using this route for a month because he fails to run into her.Tim has learned through ____ conditioning.

Accepted Answer

A)  classical 
B)  vicarious 
C)  escape 
D)  avoidance

Question 7

Lance is a door-to-door insurance salesman.Lance finds it difficult to predict what his sales will be for any given day.On some days,he sells one policy for every three houses that he visits; on other days,he may sell one policy every twenty houses.Lance is being rewarded on a ____ reinforcement schedule.

Accepted Answer

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

Question 8

While she was growing up,Lindsay was repeatedly told by others that she simply does not understand math concepts and she'll never be any good at it.By the time Lindsay reaches high school math classes,she doesn't put any effort into the classes because she thinksthat no amount of effort will help her excel at math.This is an example of ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  classical conditioning 
B)  higher-order conditioning 
C)  learned helplessness 
D)  stimulus discrimination

Question 9

Two-year-old Hannah says the word hell in the middle of dinner,and her parents immediately stop talking to each other and scold her.They spent the rest of the meal paying close attention to what Hannah said.Later,Hannah says hell repeatedly,and each time,her parents spend time talking to her and paying attention to her.In this situation,the parents' attention is a ____ and Hannah's inappropriate language is a(n)____.

Accepted Answer

A)  positive reinforcer; conditioner 
B)  negative reinforcer; operant 
C)  positive reinforcer; operant 
D)  punishment; operant

Question 10

In an experiment,a flash of light is paired with a mild electric shock to a subject's finger.After several trials,the subject begins to pull the finger away after seeing the flash of light.The experimenter then begins to present just the flash,but with no shock.After several trials of the latter,the subject will ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  keep pulling his finger away after seeing the light 
B)  pull his finger away sometimes but not others 
C)  gradually cease pulling his finger away after the flash of light 
D)  pull his finger away more quickly on each trial

Question 11

One of the most difficult problems for any teacher is a child who consistently disrupts class.Researchers have shown that giving attention in the form of scolding to a disruptive child actually increases the child's misbehavior.In the terms of operant conditioning,the scolding is a ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  punisher 
B)  penalty 
C)  positive reinforce 
D)  negative reinforcer

Question 12

Which statement best sums up the role of stimulus discrimination and stimulus control in operant conditioning?

Accepted Answer

A)  People will only learn to control the behavior of others. 
B)  People attempt to control their own behavior. 
C)  People tend to be biased toward certain types of stimuli. 
D)  People can learn to distinguish the situations in which a certain behavior will be rewarded.

Question 13

One aspect common to Tolman's research on latent learning and Köhler's research on insight is ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  negative reinforcement 
B)  vicarious experience 
C)  slow, gradual improvement in performance 
D)  sudden, dramatic improvements in performance

Question 14

Every time Brandy drops a cricket into the cage of her pet tarantula,Chompers,he begins to salivate.Brandy has gotten in the habit of playing her favorite CD when she feeds Chompers.After several pairings of the cricket and her favorite CD,all Brandy has to do is play the CD and Chompers begins to salivate.In this example,Chompers salivating to the cricket is a(n)____.

Accepted Answer

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

Question 15

Fred has decided to learn to play the harmonica.To learn this skill most efficiently,Fred should adopt an approach that emphasizes ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  observation 
B)  visualization 
C)  practice 
D)  insight

Question 16

Sarah wants to learn to play the piano.Research on skill learning suggests that ____ will be the most critical component in Sarah's learning process.

Accepted Answer

A)  immediate feedback 
B)  writing music 
C)  repeated practice 
D)  continual guidance

Question 17

Baby Abbey is playing with her favorite toy rattle when her mom drops an armful of pots and pans behind her.The loud noise makes her startle and cry.Subsequently,on seeing her rattle,she cries.However,Mom continues to give Baby Abbey her favorite rattle and doesn't drop any more pots and pans.We can expect that Baby Abbey's crying when seeing the rattle willsoon be ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  extinguished 
B)  generalized 
C)  continued through intermittent reinforcement 
D)  decreased because of spontaneous recovery

Question 18

Tsvi,a three-month-old baby,stops crying when he hears his parents' OK Computer CD.Now,whenever he begins to cry,his parents play OK Computer.Tsvi's parents' behavior of playing the CD is the result of ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  classical conditioning 
B)  habituation 
C)  learned helplessness 
D)  operant conditioning

Question 19

It's a very hot summer day and Ai is sweating in her apartment.She turns on the air conditioning and right away,her apartment gets cooler.The fact that Ai is now more likely to turn on the AC when she is hot to reduce her discomfort illustrates ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  positive reinforcement 
B)  negative reinforcement 
C)  punishment 
D)  a penalty

Question 20

Jelena is studying in her apartment when suddenly the power goes out.She has to walk to the kitchen to get a flashlight and is surprised by how well she "navigates" without bumping into anything in the dark.She is able to do this because she has formed a(n)____.

Accepted Answer

A)  conditioned response 
B)  cognitive map 
C)  unconditioned response 
D)  mental proposition

Exam 5: Learning