Deck 9: Psychology as the Science of Behavior: Pavlov,Watson,and Skinner

Question 1

Pavlov's consideration of such phenomena as generalization,differentiation,and experimental neurosis led him to conclude that:

A) learning is the result of excitatory processes in different specific locations in the brain.
B) learning is the result of separate excitatory and inhibitory processes which may interact in specific locations in the brain.
C) learning and memory must take place in just a very small part of the brain.
D) physiological explanations of learned behavior would have to be supported by purely psychological explanations and interpretations as well.

Answer 1

learning is the result of separate excitatory and inhibitory processes which may interact in specific locations in the brain.

Question 2

In Pavlov's theory,"irradiation" refers to:

A) an ultraviolet light sometimes used as a conditioned stimulus.
B) a technique to ensure his surgical operations were performed antiseptically.
C) the neural mechanism causing muscular tremors in some experimental neuroses.
D) a wave spreading excitation or inhibition over the surface of the brain.

Answer 2

a wave spreading excitation or inhibition over the surface of the brain.

Question 3

The three unconditioned emotional reactions that Watson was able to find in human infants were:

A) fear, rage, and sorrow.
B) anger, love, and joy.
C) fear, rage, and love.
D) anger, fear, and joy.

Answer 3

fear, rage, and love.

Question 4

Pavlov and his workers produced "experimental neurosis" in dogs by:

A) forcing them to confront differentiation situations they could not solve.
B) suddenly withholding the unconditioned stimuli, after many previous regular pairings with the conditioned stimuli.
C) using electric shocks as unconditioned stimuli.
D) feeding them at irregular intervals.

Question 5

In a typical Pavlovian experiment,the sound of a bell immediately precedes the feeding of the dog,for several feedings. Then the bell is sounded alone,and the dog salivates. In such an experiment,the food is called the_____________.

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

Question 6

In Pavlovian conditioning,when a new stimulus similar to the conditioned stimulus is presented,and it elicits a weakened version of the conditioned response,the phenomenon is called:

A) stimulus carry-over.
B) association by similarity.
C) response degeneration.
D) generalization.

Question 7

The primary conditioned stimulus employed in Watson and Rayner's production of a conditioned emotional reaction in Little Albert was:

A) the sudden restriction of his movement.
B) a white rat.
C) the loud clanging of a steel bar.
D) a Santa Claus mask.

Question 8

Watson's major purpose in conducting the "Little Albert" experiment was to:

A) demonstrate the instinctive fears of a human infant.
B) show that human beings are not as conditionable as animals.
C) show that behavioristic methods could be used on humans as well as animals.
D) prove that he could produce a conditioned emotional fear response.

Question 9

What did Watson say about unconscious thought in his textbook,Behaviorism?

A) It does not exist.
B) It is explainable as a sequence of non-verbal (kinesthetic or visceral) reactions.
C) It is explainable as a chain of low-level verbal or vocal responses.
D) It may exist, but it is incapable of being studied by a scientific psychology.

Question 10

Which of the following ideas was enthusiastically adopted by Pavlov?

A) Descartes' conceptual separation of the body and mind
B) Flourens's conception of the harmonious action commune integrating the different parts of the brain
C) Sechenov's argument that learned behavior occurs when cortical reflexes become superimposed on lower, innate reflexes
D) all of the above

Question 11

A professor of John B.Watson's at Chicago,whose theories he came to disagree with strongly,was:

A) Ivan Pavlov.
B) Jacques Loeb.
C) John Dewey.
D) Wilhelm Wundt.

Question 12

At first,Pavlov was reluctant to study the "psychic secretions" of his laboratory dogs because:

A) he lacked the proper kinds of laboratory apparatus.
B) he thought the variables could not be sufficiently well-controlled.
C) he was more interested in active, instrumental behaviors than in passive responses such as salivation.
D) he was afraid of being associated with psychology, which he regarded as a scientifically disreputable subject.

Question 13

A conditioned reflex is established in a dog,where the conditioned stimulus is a tone of 400 cycles per second,and the unconditioned stimulus is a splash of dilute acid in its mouth. When,on a test trial,the dog is presented with a tone of 500 cycles per second,what is the most likely result?

A) a conditioned salivary response, somewhat reduced in magnitude
B) a conditioned salivary response somewhat enhanced in magnitude
C) little or no conditioned salivary response
D) frantic attempts by the dog to escape from the situation

Question 14

An innovative and trend-setting book written by John B.Watson in 1928,suggesting many applications of his theory,was:

A) Psychological Care of the Infant and Child.
B) Progressive Education.
C) Lectures on Conditioned Reflexes.
D) Practical Learning Theory.

Question 15

In Pavlovian conditioning,if two different tones are randomly presented many times each,but only one of the tones is reinforced each time by the presentation of food powder,a process called ________________gradually occurs so that only the reinforced tone retains the capacity to elicit a conditioned salivary response.

A) backwards conditioning
B) differentiation or discrimination
C) extinction
D) generalization

Question 16

The "Little Peter" experiment,conducted by __________,demonstrated that ___________.

A) John B. Watson; conditioned fear of spiders could be produced in the laboratory
B) Rosalie Rayner; affection could be used to overcome conditioned fear
C) Karl Lashley; unconditioned salivary responses could be eliminated
D) Mary Cover Jones; conditioned fear of rabbits could be deconditioned

Question 17

When Watson wrote,"Give me a dozen healthy infants,well formed,and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee you to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select," he was expressing a viewpoint known as:

A) Pragmatism
B) Genetic determinism
C) Radical environmentalism
D) Neobehaviorism

Question 18

According to John B.Watson,a properly "behavioristic" psychology would:

A) rule out subjective methods of investigation.
B) make the prediction and control of behavior its major goals.
C) make no qualitative distinction between human and animal behaviors.
D) all of the above

Question 19

Watson found Pavlov's conditioned reflex concept useful in his own work because:

A) it was a properly objective technique that he could apply to many other learning situations besides the salivary reflex.
B) it explained a great deal about the nature of the brain.
C) it showed the value of precise measurements in psychological experiments.
D) both a and b above

Question 20

Ivan Pavlov won the Nobel Prize for his:

A) systematic studies of the physiology of digestion.
B) systematic studies of conditioned and unconditioned reflexes.
C) application of conditioning principles to human psychiatric disorders.
D) all of the above

Question 21

B.F.Skinner's primary ambition as a young man was to become a:

A) professional writer.
B) lawyer.
C) neurologist.
D) psychoanalyst.

Question 22

Edward Chase Tolman was known for his promotion of:

A) mechanistic behaviorism .
B) purposive behaviorism.
C) latent learning.
D) both b and c above

Question 23

Simple stimuli such as clicks from a toy clicker may be used to help shape up complicated chains of responses if,through previous respondent conditioning,they have been made into:

A) token reinforcers.
B) partial reinforcers.
C) primary reinforcers.
D) secondary reinforcers.

Question 24

Skinner's utopian novel Walden Two describes a society:

A) governed by the principles of classical liberal political theory.
B) whose members' behavior is partly controlled by chemicals.
C) whose members' behavior is completely determined by positive reinforcement.
D) whose members' behavior is completely controlled by judicious use of positive and negative reinforcement.

Question 25

___________________________conditioning is typically measured in terms of response latency or magnitude,while __________________conditioning is measured in terms of response rate.

A) operant; respondent
B) respondent; operant
C) respondent; Pavlovian
D) Skinnerian; Pavlovian

Question 26

Skinner's 1957 book Verbal Behavior was severely criticized by Noam Chomsky on the grounds that:

A) it was insufficiently objective and behavioristic.
B) it could not account for non?European language development.
C) it did not take into account grammatical structures that are innate and uniquely human.
D) it focused excessively on positive as opposed to negative reinforcement.

Question 27

Which of the following did Watson advise for the successful rearing of babies and young children?

A) Repair doors so they won't bang unnecessarily.
B) Dress infants in loose clothing.
C) Avoid responding to their mishaps with physical affection.
D) all of the above

Question 28

According to Skinner,one of the necessary consequences of regarding behavior as "freely" produced by "autonomous man" is a:

A) large total amount of "happiness" in society.
B) reduction in the control of behavior exerted by reinforcement contingencies.
C) great and exclusive emphasis on rewards.
D) great and undesirable emphasis on punishments.

Question 29

The record of responses made by an animal in a Skinner box is referred to as its:

A) behavioral inventory.
B) response tracing.
C) psychogram.
D) cumulative record.

Question 30

A cumulative record showing regular,scalloped-shaped variation is characteristically produced by:

A) fixed interval reinforcement.
B) fixed ratio reinforcement.
C) sudden withdrawal of reinforcement.
D) secondary reinforcement.