Deck 5: Reinforcement

Question 1

Charles Catania identified three characteristics that define reinforcement. These include all of the following except _______.

A) a behavior must have a consequence
B) the consequence of the behavior must be positive
C) a behavior must increase in strength
D) the increase in strength must be the result of the behavior's consequence

Answer 1

B

Question 2

 The one thing that all reinforcers have in common is that they _______.

A) strengthen behavior
B) are positive
C) feel good
D) provide feedback

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The author of your text calls Skinner the ______.

A) Newton of psychology
B) Thorndike of free operant work
C) discoverer of reinforcement
D) Darwin of behavior science

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Negative reinforcement is also called _______.

A) punishment
B) aversive training
C) escape-avoidance training
D) reward training

Question 5

The number of operant procedures indicated in the contingency square is ______.

A) two
B) four
C) six
D) nine

Question 6

Mary decides to try to modify Pearl's behavior (see above item). She and the rest of the family refuse to respond to any comment or request by Pearl that they know she is capable of expressing in English. For example, if during dinner she says, "Pass the potatoes" in English, she gets potatoes; if she says it in her native language she gets ignored. The procedure being used to change Pearl's behavior is ______.

A) positive reinforcement
B) negative reinforcement
C) adventitious reinforcement
D) punishment

Question 7

Thorndike plotted the results of his puzzle box experiments as graphs. The resulting curves show a _____ with succeeding trials.

A) decrease in time
B) decrease in errors
C) change in topography
D) increase in the rate of behavior

Question 8

Alan Neuringer demonstrated that with reinforcement, _____ could learn to behave randomly.

A) preschoolers
B) cats
C) rats
D) pigeons

Question 9

In one of Thorndike's puzzle boxes, a door would fall open when a cat stepped on a treadle, thus allowing the cat to reach food outside the box. Eventually the cat would step on the treadle as soon as it
Was put into the box. Thorndike concluded that ________.

A) the reasoning ability of cats is quite remarkable
B) treadle stepping increased because it had a "satisfying effect"
C) the treadle is a CS for stepping
D) learning meant connecting the treadle with freedom and food

Question 10

The law of effect says that _______.

A) satisfying consequences are more powerful than annoying consequences
B) behavior is a function of its consequences
C) how an organism perceives events is more important than the events themselves
D) effective behavior drives out ineffective behavior

Question 11

Thorndike emphasized that we learn mainly from _______.

A) errors
B) repeated trials
C) success
D) social experiences

Question 12

Positive reinforcement is sometimes called _______.

A) escape training
B) positive training
C) satisfier training
D) reward learning

Question 13

Thorndike complained that _______ evidence provided a "supernormal psychology of animals."

A) anecdotal
B) case study
C) informal experimental
D) intuitive

Question 14

________ gave Skinner's experimental chamber the name, "Skinner box."

A) Fred Keller
B) E. L. Thorndike
C) John Watson
D) Clark Hull

Question 15

Mary's grandmother, Pearl, is from the Old Country. Although she knows some English, she continues to speak her native tongue. Pearl can't go anywhere without a member of the family because she can't communicate with people about prices, directions, bus routes, etc. Pearl's resistance to learning English is most likely the result of ______.

A) a lack of intelligence
B) age. Studies show that after the age of 60 learning a second language is nearly impossible.
C) the length of time she has spent speaking her native language
D) the benefits she receives for not speaking English

Question 16

Thorndike made important contributions to all of the following fields except _____.

A) educational psychology
B) animal learning
C) social psychology
D) psychological testing

Question 17

Operant learning may also be referred to as _______.

A) trial-and-error learning
B) effects learning
C) non-Pavlovian conditioning
D) instrumental learning

Question 18

Operant learning is sometimes called ________ learning.

A) free
B) higher-order
C) instrumental
D) reward

Question 19

Skinner describes some of his most important research in _______.

A) Verbal Behavior
B) The Behavior of Organisms
C) Particulars of My Life
D) Animal Intelligence

Question 20

E. L. Thorndike's studies of learning started as an attempt to understand _______.

A) operant conditioning
B) the psychic reflex
C) animal intelligence
D) maze learning

Question 21

Douglas Anger proposed that there is a signal in the Sidman avoidance procedure. The signal is ________.

A) reinforcement
B) the aversive event
C) fatigue
D) time

Question 22

All of the following are recognized kinds of reinforcers except ______.

A) primary
B)contrived
C) secondary
D) classical

Question 23

Premack's name is most logically associated with _______.

A) drive reduction theory
B) relative value theory
C) response deprivation theory
D) equilibrium theory

Question 24

Schlinger and Blakely found that the reinforcing power of a delayed reinforcer could be increased by ________.

A) increasing the size of the reinforcer
B) preceding the reinforcer with a stimulus
C) providing a different kind of reinforcer
D) following the reinforcer with a stimulus

Question 25

The level of deprivation is less important when the reinforcer used is a(n) _________reinforcer.

A) primary
B) secondary
C) unexpected
D) intrinsic

Question 26

The distinctive characteristic of the Sidman avoidance procedure is that _______.

A) the aversive event is signaled
B) the aversive event is not signaled
C) the aversive event is signaled twice
D) there is no aversive event

Question 27

Money is a good example of a _______ reinforcer.

A) primary
B) tertiary
C) generalized
D) transient

Question 28

_____is a neurotransmitter that seems to be important in reinforcement.

A) Dopamine
B) Stupamine
C) Intelamine
D) Actomine

Question 29

An action that improves the effectiveness of a reinforcer is called a ______.

A) motivating operation
B) reward booster
C) contrived reinforcer
D) activator

Question 30

The best title for the figure below is ______.

A) Motivation and Line Drawing
B) The Effect of Practice without Reinforcement
C) Trial and Error Learning
D) Improvement in Line Drawing with Practice

Question 31

Secondary reinforcers are also called _______ reinforcers.

A) transient
B) conditioned
C) second-order
D) acquired

Question 32

The Premack principle says that reinforcement involves _______.

A) a reduction in drive
B) an increase in the potency of a behavior
C) a relation between behaviors
D) a satisfying state of affairs

Question 33

According to ___________ theory, schoolchildren are eager to go to recess because they have been deprived of the opportunity to exercise.

A) drive-reduction
B) relative value
C) response deprivation
D) stimulus substitution

Question 34

Studies of delayed reinforcement document the importance of ______.

A) contiguity
B) contingency
C) inter-trial interval
D) deprivation level

Question 35

The opposite of a conditioned reinforcer is a ______.

A) tertiary reinforcer
B) secondary reinforcer
C) primary reinforcer
D) generalized reinforcer

Question 36

________ demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the brain could be reinforcing.

A) Olds and Milner
B) Skinner
C) Barnes and Noble
D) Hull

Question 37

Donald Zimmerman found that a buzzer became a positive reinforcer after it was repeatedly paired with ______.

A) food
B) water
C) escape from shock
D) morphine

Question 38

Clark Hull's explanation of reinforcement assumes that reinforcers _____.

A) stimulate the brain
B) reduce a drive
C) activate neurotransmitters
D) leave a neural trace

Question 39

The Watson and Rayner experiment with Little Albert may have involved operant as well as Pavlovian learning because the loud noise ______.

A) occurred as Albert reached for the rat
B) occurred while Albert was eating
C) did not bother Albert initially
D) was aversive

Question 40

Sylvia believes that the reinforcement properties of an event depend on the extent to which it provides access to high probability behavior. Sylvia is most likely an advocate of _______ theory.

A) drive-reduction
B) relative value
C) response deprivation
D) random guess

Question 41

In operant learning, the word contingency usually refers to the degree of correlation between a
behavior and a consequence.

Question 42

Reprimands, restraint, captivity, and electrical shocks can be reinforcers

Question 43

Another term for operant is instrumental.

Question 44

A general assumption of behavioral research is that any feature of a behavior may be strengthened by
reinforcement, so long as reinforcement can be made contingent on that feature.

Question 45

Negative reinforcement increases the strength of a behavior.

Question 46

The more you increase the size of a reinforcer, the less benefit you get from the increase.

Question 47

According to Skinner, people are rewarded, but behavior is reinforced

Question 48

Negative reinforcement and punishment are synonyms.

Question 49

People can learn to behave randomly provided that reinforcers are made contingent on random acts.

Question 50

According to the one-process theory of avoidance, the avoidance response is reinforced by _______.

A) escape from the CS
B) a reduction in the number of aversive events
C) positive reinforcers that follow aversive events
D) non-contingent aversives

Question 51

Vomiting is ordinarily an involuntary response, but sometimes it can be modified by operant
procedures.

Question 52

With reinforcement, it is easy for a person to lower his blood pressure.

Question 53

Using ESB as a reinforcer, Talwar and his colleagues got such effective control over the behavior of rats that journalists called the animals robo-rats.

Question 54

Operant learning probably always involves Pavlovian conditioning as well.

Question 55

Studies demonstrate that operant learning is as effective with involuntary behavior, such as the
salivary reflex, as it is with voluntary behavior.

Question 56

The experimental chamber developed by Skinner is often called a _________.

Question 57

Pavlovian and operant learning often occur together.

Question 58

Unexpected reinforcers produce more dopamine than expected reinforcers.
Completion

Question 59

Positive reinforcement increases the strength of a behavior.

Question 60

Reinforcement is often said to increase the frequency of a behavior, but research suggestss that any feature of a behavior (e.g., intensity, duration, form, etc.) can be strengthened if a reinforcer can be made contingent on that feature.

Question 61

_______ reinforcers are those that have been arranged by someone.

Question 62

Operant learning is often described as trial-and-error learning, but Thorndike argued that behavior was selected by ______.

Question 63

The area of the brain that seems to be associated with reinforcement is called the reward _______.

Question 64

Clark Hull's name is associated with the _______ theory of reinforcement.

Question 65

What are the differences between classical conditioning and operant learning?

Question 66

Negative reinforcement is sometimes called ______ learning.

Question 67

Reinforcers such as praise, positive feedback, and smiles are called ______ reinforcers.

Question 68

Positive reinforcement is sometimes called ______ learning.

Question 69

In _______ _ a response is followed by the withdrawal of, or reduction in the intensity
of, an aversive stimulus.

Question 70

Your text says that the law of effect implies that our environment is constantly "talking" to us. What does this mean?

Question 71

The _______ principle states that high probability behavior reinforces low probability behavior.

Question 72

How does the Sidman avoidance procedure differ from other avoidance procedures?

Question 73

What is the chief problem with the two-process theory of avoidance?

Question 74

Compare Premack's relative value theory with the response deprivation theory of Timberlake and Allison.

Question 75

_______ theory assumes that a behavior becomes reinforcing when we are prevented from performing it as ofen as we normally would.