Deck 6: Learning

Question 1

According to Watson's famous quote regarding the rearing of children, if given a dozen infants and control of their world, he could:

A) guarantee ahead of time their IQ, based on their early infant behaviour
B) train them to be any type of specialist he wanted
C) shape their early childhood but have little impact on later development
D) ensure that they grew up without discrimination and hatred

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The process by which an environmental stimulus and a behaviour are connected is known as:

A) cognition
B) episodic memory
C) conditioning
D) behaviour modification

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What is the correct historical order in which these four researchers impacted modern behaviourism?

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

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A relatively permanent change in behaviour that is not due to maturation but is due to experience is called:

A) operant shaping
B) habituation
C) learning
D) behaviourism

Question 5

A psychologist is interested in the process of thinking about one's own thoughts and feelings. She asks her subjects to talk about these processes to better understand how people think, learn, and feel. This psychologist most likely uses which technique as part of her research?

A) schedules of reinforcement for writing down thoughts and feelings
B) introspection techniques
C) observational learning technologies
D) higher-order conditioning

Question 6

For what area of research did Ivan Pavlov receive the Nobel Prize?

A) classical conditioning
B) animal training
C) salivary reflex and digestion
D) biological boundaries of learning

Question 7

According to Watson's view, which is not necessarily considered accurate today, what is the only valid indicator of psychological activity and why?

A) overt behaviour-because it alone can be studied using the scientific method
B) self-report-because it is the most accurate measurement of subjective states
C) psychoanalysis-because individuals do not know the drives of their own subconscious
D) classical conditioning-because it demonstrates innate learning abilities

Question 8

The school of behaviourism was based on the belief that:

A) anything can be learned by any living organism
B) animals and humans are born with the potential to learn just about anything
C) behaviour is conditioned, unlike cognitions of the mind
D) animals learn via behaviourism, humans learn via cognitivism

Question 9

You know that genetics has given your new baby sister innate traits such as how to suckle and cry. Yet some people tell you that she is born knowing nothing. These people believe in ____________, which says that the environment teaches infants everything.

A) pure minds
B) tabula rasa
C) clean start
D) tora rica

Question 10

What was the purpose of B. F. Skinner's book Walden Two?

A) to teach people the way in which they are really like animals
B) to demonstrate how to rear children using a Skinner box
C) to show how the basic application of learning principles could create a better world
D) to demonstrate the evils of using behaviour modification

Question 11

Which of the following is most closely associated with B. F. Skinner?

A) introspection
B) modern neuroscience
C) behaviour modification
D) understanding the development of phobias

Question 12

A friend of yours states that Skinner raised his children in a Skinner box. However, based on your reading, you know that:

A) his daughter was reared in an environmentally controlled crib called an air crib, not a Skinner box
B) only his oldest daughter was raised in the Skinner box, as the child authorities stopped him from using it for the second
C) Skinner had no children
D) it was not Skinner, but Pavlov who raised his children using a modified version of the Skinner box

Question 13

Which of the following individuals did NOT have a critical historical influence on learning?

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

Question 14

What psychological principle did Pavlov's experiments teach us?

A) They demonstrated how a nonbiologically salient stimulus can trigger the same natural response as a biologically salient stimulus.
B) They demonstrated that all biological responses must be elicited by biologically salient stimuli.
C) They demonstrated how learning could take place without the presence of punishment.
D) They demonstrated that complex behaviours, such as fear of a stimulus, can be learned observationally.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT one of the core types of learning?

A) classical conditioning
B) operant conditioning
C) habituation
D) maturation

Question 16

The best definition of learning is that learning:

A) results entirely from maturation rather than experience
B) must result in adaptation of behaviour, but does not have to be enduring
C) always results in adaptations in behaviour
D) is relatively enduring and results from experience

Question 17

According to Watson, children are born as a blank slate, or tabula rasa. Which of the following characteristics should a child then possess from birth?

A) the potential for cognition, but not the experiences necessary to use cognitive thought
B) the ability to acquire knowledge through sensory experiences
C) associations between action and effect
D) the ability to free associate through nonverbal response

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT an example of learning?

A) The second time she gets her eyes tested, Sammi blinks when the buzzer rings because she predicts a puff of air is coming after the buzzer.
B) A baby begins to reach and fuss when his mother opens the refrigerator to get the bottle out.
C) A baby can sit up at six months, but rarely can at two months.
D) Your cat runs to the kitchen at the sound of a can opener.

Question 19

Physical maturation is NOT considered a form of learning because it:

A) does not result from experience
B) does involve changes in behaviour
C) does not involve classical conditioning
D) is an enduring change

Question 20

Who founded the school of behaviourism?

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

Question 21

The strongest associations between an unconditioned stimulus and a conditioned stimulus occur when:

A) they are presented at the exact same time
B) the unconditioned stimulus is presented slightly before the conditioned stimulus
C) the conditioned stimulus is presented slightly before the unconditioned stimulus
D) the conditioned response is presented during the conditioned stimulus

Question 22

What type of learning occurs when a formally neutral object begins to elicit a reflexive (or highly similar) response after it has been paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits that response?

A) orienting reflex
B) classical conditioning
C) consequence conditioning
D) unconditioned stimulus

Question 23

What is an unconditioned response?

A) a learned pairing between two stimuli
B) a nervous system reflex
C) an unlearned, automatic behaviour to a stimulus
D) something that elicits an automatic behaviour

Question 24

If you trained a rat to fear a flashing light by pairing it with a painful electric shock, what would be your conditioned stimulus?

A) flashing light
B) electric shock
C) fear
D) extinction

Question 25

A startling noise will always cause the human eye to blink. If one has learned to associate a blue light with a startling noise, what is the blue light-elicited eyeblink action known as?

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

Question 26

What does the occurrence of spontaneous recovery tell you about the functional properties of extinction?

A) Extinction is a new form of learning, but it only inhibits rather than deletes the learned association between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.
B) Extinction is an adaptive response to delete spurious information from memory associations.
C) Extinction is a useful tendency to try to re-adapt old learning strategies to novel problems.
D) Extinction is the basis of cognitive learning, when applied to re-appraisal strategies.

Question 27

What is the proper order of events that need to take place in order for classical conditioning to occur?

A) unconditioned response presentation; conditioned stimulus presentation, which elicits the unconditioned stimulus; after many trials the unconditioned response elicits the conditioned stimulus
B) conditioned response presentation; unconditioned response presentation, which elicits the conditioned response; after many trials the conditioned response elicits the unconditioned stimulus
C) unconditioned stimulus presentation; conditioned stimulus presentation, which elicits the conditioned response; after many trials the unconditioned stimulus elicits the unconditioned response
D) conditioned stimulus presentation; unconditioned stimulus presentation, which elicits the unconditioned response; after many trials the conditioned stimulus elicits the conditioned response

Question 28

In classical conditioning experiments, the conditioned response is typically the:

A) the control group
B) the experimental group
C) the dependent variable
D) the independent variable

Question 29

What is an unconditioned stimulus?

A) a learned response
B) a reflexive action to a biologically relevant situation
C) something that elicits a learned response
D) something that elicits an unlearned response

Question 30

What is the term used by behaviourists to describe the gradual forming of an association between an unconditioned stimulus and a conditioned stimulus?

A) generalization
B) discrimination
C) deviation
D) acquisition

Question 31

What is the process whereby the conditioned response is weakened when it is no longer presented with the unconditioned stimulus?

A) extinction
B) reward
C) second-order conditioning
D) acquisition

Question 32

In classical conditioning experiments, the unconditioned stimulus is most similar to the __________ in instrumental conditioning experiments.

A) learned behaviour
B) reinforcement
C) acquisition
D) spontaneous recovery

Question 33

Pavlovian conditioning is also referred to as:

A) behaviour modification
B) operant conditioning
C) classical conditioning
D) consequence-oriented conditioning

Question 34

What observation by Pavlov led to the development of classical conditioning as a model of learning?

A) Dogs showed reflexes highly similar to people.
B) Dogs had to be conditioned to salivate.
C) Dogs salivated in anticipation of food.
D) Dogs salivated after receiving the reward of food.

Question 35

What is a conditioned stimulus?

A) something that naturally elicits a response
B) something that elicits a response only after learning
C) a previously extinct stimulus
D) a second-order pairing of learned relations

Question 36

In order for Pavlovian learning to occur, what must the conditioned stimulus have been paired with?

A) an unconditioned response
B) a conditioned response
C) an unconditioned stimulus
D) a consequence

Question 37

What causes extinction?

A) The conditioned response is no longer rewarding to the organism.
B) The unconditioned stimulus no longer evokes a response from the organism.
C) The organism learns that the conditioned stimulus no longer predicts the unconditioned stimulus.
D) Spontaneous recovery fails to occur.

Question 38

What is an unconditioned response?

A) an innate response
B) a response that has been learned
C) an automatic stimulus
D) a reflex

Question 39

What is the typical relationship between an unconditioned response and a conditioned response?

A) The unconditioned response will be stronger.
B) The conditioned response will be stronger.
C) The unconditioned response will be faster.
D) The conditioned response will be faster.

Question 40

What is a conditioned response?

A) an innate response
B) a response that has been learned
C) an automatic response
D) a reflex

Question 41

The ability to respond with an appropriate conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus and with no response to a very similar yet substantially different stimulus is known as:

A) valence differentiation
B) salience response
C) stimulus generalization
D) stimulus discrimination

Question 42

University students who often drink beer, but only at night in the university pub, will be least affected by the alcohol when they drink:

A) at night in the university pub
B) in the morning in the university pub
C) at night in their dorm room
D) in the morning in their dorm room

Question 43

In the fear conditioning of Little Albert, Watson used the following stimuli:

A) unconditioned stimulus-loud sound; conditioned stimulus-rat
B) unconditioned stimulus-rat; conditioned stimulus-loud sound
C) unconditioned stimulus-fear; conditioned stimulus-rat
D) unconditioned stimulus-loud sound; conditioned stimulus-fear

Question 44

Donte was sitting on a rock to rest during a hike. Suddenly he felt immense pain and looked down to see a snake had bitten him in the leg. He is now terrified of anything that even resembles a snake. Donte has developed a(n):

A) identification ability with regard to snakes
B) phobia of snakes
C) distrust of snakes
D) disinterest for snakes

Question 45

Treating addicts by exposing them to the drug cues, but not the drug itself, is similar to which classical conditioning process?

A) acquisition
B) extinction
C) spontaneous recovery
D) habituation

Question 46

What type of anxiety disorder is seen as a learned fear that is out of proportion to the real threat?

A) generalized anxiety disorder
B) a phobia
C) obsessive-compulsive disorder
D) panic disorder

Question 47

Investigations of the infant, Little Albert, who was involved in Watson's fear conditioning experiments, suggest that Little Albert:

A) is now a psychology professor who still fears white rats
B) is a well-adjusted adult who has completely lost his fear of white rats
C) most likely never existed
D) died at the age of six, likely of a brain infection

Question 48

When slight differences in the form of conditioned stimuli still produce the same conditioned response, the learning phenomenon of ____________ is occurring.

A) generalization
B) discrimination
C) second-order conditioning
D) operant conditioning

Question 49

Based on the understanding of the role of classical conditioning in drug addiction, treatments should expose drug addicts to:

A) the cues that predict drug use but not to the drugs
B) the drug in the absence of drug cues
C) the unconditioned stimulus
D) the unconditioned response

Question 50

When, after extensive extinction trials, the presentation of the conditioned stimulus briefly produces a conditioned response, this is known as:

A) classical conditioning
B) extinction reversal
C) second-order conditioning
D) spontaneous recovery

Question 51

How might behavioural techniques help treat phobias?

A) by removing the central nucleus of the amygdala
B) by conditioning a new unconditioned stimulus to the conditioned response, thus removing the initial conditioning
C) by systematically desensitizing the threat by introducing new conditioned responses
D) by punishing unwanted conditioned responses to the phobic unconditioned stimulus

Question 52

When conditioning occurs due to the pairing of a neutral stimulus with a conditioned stimulus (CS), resulting in a CS-CS learned association, this is known as:

A) stimulus generalization
B) second-order conditioning
C) additive conditioning
D) an experimental error

Question 53

Behaviourism has helped psychologists gain an understanding of drug tolerance by showing that:

A) cues in the environment predictive of the drug can produce physiological reactions similar to actions of the drug
B) increased levels of reward produced by the drug itself become needed for responding to any reinforcement over time
C) punishment is an effective but controversial treatment for overcoming drug withdrawal
D) drug therapies such as methadone need to be conditioned to be effective

Question 54

The fact that Little Albert learned fear toward not only a white rat but also a ball of wool and a rabbit represents:

A) second-order conditioning
B) generalization
C) discrimination
D) reconditioning

Question 55

Alli is afraid of her neighbour's large dog. She soon becomes afraid of any dog she sees on the street, and eventually even pictures of dogs or toy dogs. This change in her fear of dogs represents the phenomenon of:

A) second-order conditioning
B) generalization
C) discrimination
D) reconditioning

Question 56

The process by which an individual needs increasing amounts of the drug to achieve the same psychological or physical effects is known as:

A) addiction
B) tolerance
C) sensitization
D) withdrawal

Question 57

The cravings for drugs can be reduced in drug addicts by treatments that:

A) present the drug cues in the absence of the drug
B) present an unconditioned stimulus in the absence of the conditioned stimulus
C) eliminate the unconditioned response
D) strengthen the relationship between the drug cues and drug association

Question 58

Katie is afraid of clowns. She has been training herself to relax every time she is about to see a clown, and eventually her fear of clowns subsides. What anti-phobia treatment is this action similar to?

A) reconstruction theory
B) extinctive training
C) advocate theory
D) systematic desensitization

Question 59

Why was Little Albert not counterconditioned or systematically desensitized for his acquired fear of rats?

A) Once learned, a phobia is permanent.
B) Systematic desensitization has been shown to be ineffective for treating fear.
C) His mother removed him from the study.
D) The scientific community considered the experiment unethical and ended it abruptly.

Question 60

You use eye drops to keep your contacts moist. At first it was just once in the morning, but now it seems you are using eye drops every hour or your eyes just seem to dry out. This increased need for eye drops can be considered an example of ____________ and may be due to a mild ____________ to eye drops.

A) tolerance; addiction
B) sensitization; habituation
C) withdrawal effects; addiction
D) counterconditioning; habituation

Question 61

What is the main difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning?

A) Classical conditioning uses reward-based learning, while operant conditioning is caused by reflexive actions.
B) Classical conditioning is caused by reflexive actions, while operant conditioning requires cognitive evaluation.
C) Classical conditioning requires learning two events are related, while operant conditioning demonstrates that behaviour leads to a consequence.
D) Classical conditioning demonstrates that behaviour leads to a consequence, while operant conditioning is caused by reflexive actions.

Question 62

The theory that animals are genetically programmed to fear particular things that threaten their survival is known as:

A) tolerance conditioning
B) biological preparedness
C) evolutionary significance
D) second-order conditioning

Question 63

Conditioned taste aversion learning differs from traditional classical conditioning when a metronome is paired with food, because in conditioned taste aversion learning:

A) there is no conditioned stimulus
B) there is no unconditioned stimulus
C) there is no learned response
D) the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus can be separated by hours

Question 64

Which of the following examples from your textbook is NOT an example of an animal which has been trained based on Skinner's principles?

A) seeing-eye dogs
B) navy dolphins trained to seek explosives
C) dogs salivating to a bell
D) dogs trained to sniff for drugs

Question 65

Thorndike's rule that actions resulting in good outcomes will be repeated and bad outcomes will not be repeated is known as the:

A) mass action rule
B) law of effect
C) tenet of behavioural reciprocity
D) operant theory of cognition

Question 66

What is the name commonly applied to the type of learning that Skinner studied?

A) classical conditioning
B) operant conditioning
C) antecedent learning
D) optional learning

Question 67

The idea that the consequences of our actions determine the likelihood they will be performed in the future underlies:

A) the operant conditioning model
B) the classical conditioning model
C) the Rescorla-Wagner model
D) the social learning model

Question 68

Joe and Tom have been roommates for two years. In that time, Amy started to date Tom. Since having a bad breakup with Tom, Amy now also does not like Joe. This is an example of the phenomenon known as:

A) biological preparedness
B) cognitive preparedness
C) guilt by association
D) shared virtue models

Question 69

Imagine you are trapped in a cage. Every time you press a button you get a drink of water and every time you pull on a string you get shocked. Soon, you understand that you should press the button, but leave the string alone. This example follows the theory of:

A) the law of effect
B) effective learning
C) the law of learning
D) the effective law

Question 70

It is easier to condition birds than rats with vision-relevant stimuli than taste-relevant stimuli because:

A) birds rely on vision more than taste for food selection
B) birds are the only species that lack the ability for learned food aversions
C) birds have no taste buds
D) birds and rats evolved separately

Question 71

To which food would you be more likely to show conditioned taste aversion?

A) a highly familiar food; because it was unusual that it made you ill
B) a highly familiar food; because you have learned that this food is safe
C) a novel food; because it was unusual and those new characteristics of the food became paired with you becoming ill
D) a novel food; because it was unusual and those new characteristics became paired with it being a safe food

Question 72

In 1898, a man named Edward Thorndike suggested that behaviours that lead to rewarded outcomes will be repeated. What is the name of Thorndike's theory?

A) the learning and reward effect
B) the law of effect
C) the reward of learning theory
D) the law of conditional learning

Question 73

Rescorla's cognitive model of conditioning does NOT explain why:

A) a conditioned stimulus that occurs before the unconditioned stimulus is optimal for learning
B) a delay between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus is optimal for learning
C) evolutionarily significant conditioned stimuli are easier to condition
D) the conditioned stimulus needs to be a good predictor of the unconditioned stimulus

Question 74

Most humans have a tendency to hide first, and then run when they feel threatened; it is only with practice that individuals such as firefighters can learn to control such an urge. This might be considered an example of:

A) conditioned aversion
B) the equipotentiality principle
C) biological preparedness
D) the law of effect

Question 75

In the Rescorla-Wagner model, the more surprising the unconditioned stimulus is, the greater the need for an organism to ____________ it using a conditioned stimulus.

A) condition
B) fear
C) predict
D) reinforce

Question 76

According to Skinner, what consequence is most conducive to learning?

A) untrained
B) reflexive
C) punishment
D) reward

Question 77

The Rescorla-Wagner model of the cognitive components of conditioning states that the strength of the conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus association depends on how ____________ the unconditioned stimulus is.

A) rewarding
B) evolutionarily significant
C) fearful
D) unexpected

Question 78

Research investigating gender differences in learning patterns have shown that:

A) women are more likely to use landmarks and memorize a series of turns when navigating through space
B) men are more likely to use landmarks and memorize a series of turns when navigating through space
C) women are more likely to keep track of cardinal directions and use landmarks
D) men are more likely to keep track of cardinal directions and use landmarks

Question 79

Your older sister was captain of the debating team, starred in the school musicals, and graduated as valedictorian. As you entered high school everyone expected that you would excel as well and share the same interests. This is an example of:

A) biological preparedness
B) guilt by association
C) virtue by association
D) shared virtue models

Question 80

Sunil wishes to classically condition his dog to fear skunks so he doesn't get sprayed again. This task should be much easier than teaching him to fear a houseplant because:

A) the dog is biologically prepared to fear certain types of objects
B) the dog has high intelligence
C) the dog is biologically conditioned to fear skunks
D) the dog's mind cannot physically be trained to fear plants