Deck 13: The Limits of Learning

Question 1

Joseph Wolpe raised doubts about the idea that people are prepared to acquire certain phobias.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Keller and Marion Breland are known for their article, _________.

A) Prepared to Learn
B) The Misbehavior of Organisms
C) Learning at an Early Age
D) Animal Farm

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Robert Tryon demonstrated that heredity plays a role in maze learning in rats.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Frances puts a hungry rat into an experimental chamber. Whenever the rat presses a lever, food falls into a tray. In about 30 minutes, the rat is pressing the lever steadily. Frances returns the rat to the
Training cage for one hour a day every day until the rat produces young. Frances then trains one of
This rat's offspring in the same manner as its mother and repeats this procedure for several generations. You predict that when the twelfth generation rat is put into the training cage, it will press the lever steadily in about_________.

A) 7 minutes
B)10 minutes
C) 20 minutes
D) 30 minutes

Question 5

Skinner's efforts to teach pigeons to play ping pong demonstrate that the inability to learn a skill may sometimes be overcome by_________.

A) making allowances for physical limitations
B) breaking the task into small parts
C) lots of patient training
D) surgical procedures

Question 6

In their study of conditioning, Garcia and Koelling paired water with radiation. They found that the rats later avoided _________.

A) water with a distinct odor
B) water with a distinct taste
C) water that was bright and noisy
D) any kind of water

Question 7

John has difficulty training a raccoon to pick up coins and put them in a bank. It is most likely that _________.

A) the raccoon lacks the intelligence to learn this task
B) the raccoon was contraprepared to learn this task
C) this task had to be learned during a critical period
D) raccoons lack the ability for insightful problem solving

Question 8

Allen and Beatrice Gardner taught a chimpanzee to _________.

A) use sign language
B) speak
C) read and write
D) communicate with geometric forms

Question 9

Efforts to teach chimpanzees to talk probably failed because_________.

A) the researchers did not use the proper reinforcement procedures
B) chimps have their own language which they would not give up
C) the researchers did not begin instruction when the chimps were very young
D) chimps lack the biological structures for speech

Question 10

Robert Tryon's work demonstrates the role of heredity in _________.

A) maze learning
B) preparedness
C) critical periods
D) contingency traps

Question 11

"The Ape in Our House" was written by _________.

A) A. Gardner
B) Kellogg and Kellogg
C) C. Hayes
D) Lemarck

Question 12

The psychologist who believed that learned behavior could be inherited was _________.

A) McArthur
B) McConnell
C) McDougall
D) McEdwards

Question 13

Armadillos curl up into a ball when attacked. Reginald teaches an armadillo to curl up into a ball when a buzzer sounds. Reginald is making use of the phenomenon known as _________.

A) intelligence
B) critical periods
C) overadaptability
D) preparedness

Question 14

Harry and Martha Frank found that on barrier problems dogs did not perform as well as _________.

A) wolves
B) coyotes
C) foxes
D) otters

Question 15

While walking in the woods, Larry happens to stumble across a nest of turkey eggs just as they are hatching. Larry watches the chicks as they emerge from their eggs and begin walking about. As he
Leaves the nest area, Larry finds the young birds are determined to go with him. Larry's new friends are
Victims of _________.

A) instinctive drift
B) imprinting
C) the nonhereditability of learning
D) low intelligence

Question 16

An animal that can learn to perform one trick is sure to learn another trick of similar complexity.

Question 17

Substances that damage the nervous system are called _________.

A) trace elements
B) neurotoxins
C) CNS inhibitors
D) cortical blockers

Question 18

Learning is of vital importance because so many problems that face society involve_________.

A) behavior
B) heredity
C) criminal impulses
D) unconscious motivation

Question 19

If a new behavior appears without reinforcement, it is likely an example of ________.

A) sign monitoring
B) autotracking
C) autoshaping
D) autotrack

Question 20

The tendency to revert to a fixed (or modal) action pattern is called instinctive drift.

Question 21

Researchers have found that organisms differ in their readiness to learn certain tasks. Martin Seligman
called this tendency the _______of preparedness.

Question 22

_______was one of the first to study imprinting.

Question 23

The idea that an enriched environment in childhood can produce high intelligence is supported by the
case of _______.

Question 24

Suppose learning were passed on from generation to generation. How would your relationship with
your parents be different?

Question 25

A man who had been stricken by polio as a child spent years in an institution for the mentally retarded
even though he was quite bright. Explain how his intelligence could have been misjudged.

Question 26

When a species is likely to learn a response, we say it is prepared to learn. When it is unlikely to learn
a response, we say it is _______ to learn.

Question 27

Learning does not always mean progress.
Completion

Question 28

Does learning inevitably mean progresshy or why not?

Question 29

How might preparedness to learn be nonadaptive?

Question 30

Experiments in which young monkeys were reared in isolation from their mothers illustrates the
importance of _______ periods for social development.