Deck 6: Schedules of Reinforcement

Question 1

One explanation for the PRE implies that the effect is really an illusion.This is the .

A)discrimination hypothesis
B)frustration hypothesis
C)sequential hypothesis
D)response unit hypothesis

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Bill spends his summer in the city panhandling.Every day he takes a position on a busy corner and accosts passersby saying, "Can you spare some change?" Most people ignore him, but every now and then someone gives him money.Bill's reinforcement schedule is best described as a .

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

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The rate at which a response occurs, once the subject begins performing it, is called the .

A)clock rate
B)walk rate
C)run rate
D)performance rate

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Studies of choice involve .

A)multiple schedules
B)chain schedules
C)concurrent schedules
D)redundant schedules

Question 5

George's Pigeons George trains a pigeon to peck a disk by reinforcing each disk peck.Once the response is learned,
George begins to cut back on the reinforcers.At first he reinforces every other response, then every third
Response, every fifth response, every tenth response, and so on.
Refer to George's Pigeons.Things are going pretty well for George until he jumps from reinforcing every tenth response to reinforcing every 50th response.At this point, the pigeon responds erratically and nearly stops responding entirely.George's pigeon is suffering from .

A)ratio strain
B)ratiocination
C)satiation
D)reinforcer deprivation

Question 6

FT and VT are both kinds of reinforcement.

A)noncontingent
B)intermittent
C)duration-based
D)continuous

Question 7

The study of reinforcement schedules suggests that the behavior we call stick-to-itiveness is largely the product of .

A)genetics
B)prenatal influences
C)character
D)reinforcement history

Question 8

Pigeon Study A pigeon is confronted with two disks, one green, the other red.The bird receives food on a VI 20"
Schedule when it pecks the green disk, and on a VI 10" schedule when it pecks the red one.
Refer to Pigeon Study.You predict that the bird will peck .

A)one disk about as often as at the other
B)the green disk almost exclusively
C)the green disk about twice as often as the red disk
D)the red disk about twice as often as the green disk

Question 9

Your text reports the case of a man who apparently made hundreds of harassing phone calls.The man's behavior was most likley on a/an .

A)FR schedule
B)VR schedule
C)FI schedule
D)VI schedule

Question 10

John spent his summer picking cantaloupes for a farmer.The farmer paid John a certain amount for every basket of cantaloupes picked.John worked on a .

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

Question 11

Pigeon Study A pigeon is confronted with two disks, one green, the other red.The bird receives food on a VI 20"
Schedule when it pecks the green disk, and on a VI 10" schedule when it pecks the red one.
Refer to Pigeon Study.The principle that allows you to predict the behavior of the pigeon is called the
)

A)law of effect
B)matching law
C)Premack principle
D)differential outcomes effect

Question 12

George's Pigeons George trains a pigeon to peck a disk by reinforcing each disk peck.Once the response is learned,
George begins to cut back on the reinforcers.At first he reinforces every other response, then every third
Response, every fifth response, every tenth response, and so on.
Refer to George's Pigeons.George is using a procedure called .

A)ratio tuning
B)reinforcement decimation
C)intermittent reinforcement
D)stretching the ratio

Question 13

The schedule that is likely to produce a cumulative record with scallops is the .

A)FR schedule
B)VR schedule
C)FI schedule
D)VI schedule

Question 14

The schedule to use if you want to produce the most rapid learning of new behavior is .

A)CRF
B)FR 2
C)FI 3"
D)VI 3"

Question 15

Stanley wants to determine which of two reinforcement schedules is more attractive to rats.He trains a rat to press a lever for food, and then puts the rat into an experimental chamber containing two levers.Pressing one lever produces reinforcement on an FR 10 schedule; pressing the other lever produces reinforcement on an FI 10" schedule.Lever pressing is on a .

A)multiple schedule
B)chain schedule
C)concurrent schedule
D)redundant schedule

Question 16

Harry spent his summer in the city panhandling.Every day he would sit on the sidewalk, put a cardboard sign in front of him that said, "Please help," and place his hat on the sidewalk upside down.Then he would wait.Every now and then someone would put money into his hat.Harry's reinforcement schedule is best described as a .

A)fixed ratio schedule
B)variable ratio schedule
C)fixed interval schedule
D)variable time schedule

Question 17

In a schedule, reinforcement is contingent on the continuous performance of a behavior for some period of time.

A)fixed duration
B)continuous reinforcement
C)fixed time
D)DRH

Question 18

A schedule in which reinforcement is contingent on the behavior of more than one subject is a .

A)multiple schedule
B)mixed schedule
C)tandem schedule
D)cooperative schedule

Question 19

Shirley trains a rat to press a lever and then reinforces lever presses on an FR 10 schedule when a red light is on, and an FI 10" schedule when a green light is on.In this case, lever pressing is on a .

A)multiple schedule
B)chain schedule
C)concurrent schedule
D)redundant schedule

Question 20

A schedule that does not require the performance of a particular behavior is the .

A)FT schedule
B)FD schedule
C)FI schedule
D)FR schedule

Question 21

Of the following, the schedule that most closely resembles noncontingent reinforcement is .

A)FD
B)FT
C)FI
D)DRL

Question 22

CRF is synonymous with .

A)EXT
B)FR 1
C)CRT
D)FI 1

Question 23

People sometimes behave differently from animals on a given schedule.This is most likely because .

A)animals are less variable than people
B)people receive instructions about what they are to do
C)people deliberately do something different to demonstrate that they are not rats
D)people are more complicated than animals

Question 24

A chain schedule is most like a schedule.

A)multiple schedule
B)mixed schedule
C)cooperative
D)tandem schedule

Question 25

There are two basic kinds of schedules, simple and .

A)complex
B)compound
C)open
D)operant

Question 26

When reinforcement is contingent on continuous performance of an activity, a/an reinforcement schedule is in force.

A)duration
B)interval
C)time
D)ratio

Question 27

One everyday example of a VR schedule is the lottery.

Question 28

In one form of the matching law, B stands for the behavior under consideration and B
Represents
)A 0

A)reinforcement for B
B)the baseline rate of BA
C)all behaviors other thaAn B
D)all behavior that is over exApectation

Question 29

Although important, the matching law is restricted to a narrow range of species, responses, reinforcers, and reinforcement schedules.

Question 30

In VI schedules, the reinforcer occurs periodically regardless of what the organism does.

Question 31

Of the following explanations, the one that is most satisfactory from the standpoint of science is .

A)Mary bites her nails because she has masochistic tendencies
B)John never sticks to a diet because he lacks will power
C)Susan is very poor in art because she lacks creativity
D)Harry has stick-to-itiveness because his parents praised him for sticking with projects

Question 32

A classic work on reinforcement schedules is by .

A)Darwin
B)Herrnstein
C)Ferster and Skinner
D)Abercrombie and Fitch

Question 33

is an excellent schedule for producing a high rate of behavior.

A)CRF
B)DRL
C)DRO
D)DRH

Question 34

The explanation of the PRE that puts greatest emphasis on internal cues is the hypothesis.

A)discrimination
B)frustration
C)sequential hypothesis
D)response unit hypothesis

Question 35

When a response is placed on extinction, there is often an increase in emotional behavior.

Question 36

A given reinforcement schedule tends to produce a distinctive pattern and rate of performance.These are called schedule .

A)patterns
B)profiles
C)effects
D)matrixes

Question 37

In schedules research, VD stands for .

A)video displayed
B)verbal dependent
C)variable dependency
D)variable duration

Question 38

In a multiple schedule, the organism is forced to choose between two or more reinforcement schedules.

Question 39

One difference between FT and FI schedules is that in FT schedules, reinforcement is not contingent on a behavior.

Question 40

When food is the reinforcer, it is possible to stretch the ratio to the point at which an animal expends more energy than it receives.

Question 41

How might you use what you know about reinforcement schedules to study the effects of air temperature on behavior?

Question 42

The thinner of two schedules, VR 5 and VR 10, is VR 10.

Question 43

In a tandem schedule, behavior is performed during a series of schedules, but food reinforcement comes only at the end of the last schedule.What reinforces behavior during the earlier schedules when food is not provided?

Question 44

It is sometimes possible to stretch the ratio so far that an animal receiving food reinforcement will expend more energy than he receives from the reinforcers.

Question 45

Harlan Lane and Paul Shinkman put a college student's behavior on extinction following VI
reinforcement.The student performed the behavior 8,000 times without reinforcement.

Question 46

The response unit hypothesis suggests that there really is no such thing as the partial reinforcement effect.

Question 47

Why is the study of reinforcement schedules important?

Question 48

The rule describing the delivery of reinforcement is called a/an of reinforcement.

Question 49

A rat's lever pressing is on a concurrent VI 5" VI 15" schedule.Describe the rat's behavior.

Question 50

A teacher has a student who gives up at the first sign of difficulty.How can the teacher increase the child's persistence?