Deck 8: Learning

Question 1

Learning is a feature that is typical of humans only.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Learning happens even when we are asleep.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Which of the following definitions BEST describe what is learning?

A) It is the acquisition of information.
B) It is the acquisition of information by a biological organism.
C) It is a relatively permanent change in behaviour as a consequence of experience.
D) It is the opposite of introspection.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

"Learning refers to the acquisition of information". Why is this definition of learning not suitable?

Question 5

Provide a suitable definition of learning.

Question 6

Which of the following organisms is able to learn?

A) A bird
B) A 1-month old baby
C) An octopus
D) All of the above

Question 7

What is the name of the reflex by which a child will turn their head towards an object that stimulates their cheek?

A) Rolling reflex
B) Rooting reflex
C) Suction reflex
D) Rotating reflex

Question 8

Why is the rooting reflex so important?

A) It orientates the baby's attention towards their mother's face.
B) It orientates the baby's attention towards their mother's voice.
C) It aids breastfeeding.
D) It aids grasping in infants.

Question 9

Reflexes are:

A) Automatic responses
B) Innate responses
C) Fast responses
D) All of the above

Question 10

Mary quickly drops the very hot mug as soon as she touched it, avoiding a serious burn. This is an example of:

A) reflex arc
B) rooting reflex
C) Babinski reflex
D) knee jerk reflex

Question 11

Why is the reflex arc so fast?

A) It is innate.
B) It recruits special synapses.
C) It does not have to pass through the brain.
D) It gets processing priority in the thalamus.

Question 12

Discuss why organisms cannot entirely rely on reflexes to interact with their environments.

Question 13

Reflexes can be flexible, allowing organisms to adapt their responses to the environment when the predictive relationships between events change.

Question 14

Reflexes can be fast and automatic, but they are never the product of learning.

Question 15

In the __________, a sensory neuron projects to the spinal cord and from there onto a spinal motor, without having to pass through the brain. This allows a very __________ motor response.

Question 16

When learning does not express into a behaviour we say that it is __________.

Question 17

Name 2 elements which are fundamental in the definition of learning.

Question 18

What reflex makes babies turn their heads towards an object that gently stimulates their cheeks?

Question 19

Which of the following is not a type of learning?

A) Habituation
B) Reflex
C) Sensitization
D) Conditioning

Question 20

Which of the following reflexes allows a potentially dangerous sensory input (e.g. a burning hand) to be acted upon quickly to limit damage?

A) Rooting reflex
B) Reflex arc
C) Spinal reflex
D) Knee jerk reflex

Question 21

Kaitlyn has just finished watching a scary horror movie about a stalker. This fear-arousing experience will likely _______.

A) increase her sensitivity to the faint background noises around the house that were associated with the movie
B) increase her ability to relax and fall asleep
C) have little impact on her sensitivity to her surroundings
D) be forgotten soon

Question 22

Sensitization involves an increase in response to the presentation of a cue.

Question 23

Which of the following is an example of a basic form of learning?

A) Habituation
B) Sensitization
C) a + b
D) None of the above

Question 24

Whose work is considered pioneering in the study of classical conditioning?

A) Carew
B) Pavlov
C) Thorndike
D) Heyes

Question 25

Identify the US, UR, CS, and CR of Pavlov's famous study.

Question 26

Pavlov's dogs had learned to associate the sound of a bell with getting food. This suggests that classical conditioning involves an association between:

A) a stimulus and either another stimulus, or a response
B) a stimulus and a response
C) two responses
D) two stimuli

Question 27

In Carew et al.'s (1983) study on classical conditioning in sea slugs, the slight touch on the slug's siphon was the __________, while the mild electric shock delivered immediately after on the slug's tail was the __________.

A) CS; US
B) US; CS
C) US; UR
D) CS; CR

Question 28

Pavlov's experiment is an example of __________conditioning, while Carew et al.'s experiments on sea slugs are an example of __________ conditioning.

A) aversive; appetitive
B) taste aversion; fear
C) appetitive; aversive
D) fear; taste aversion

Question 29

Conditioning chambers are exclusively used to study fear conditioning in rats.

Question 30

Evidence that the CS-US pairing still exists after extinction training is provided by the re-emergence of the CR with the mere passage of time. This phenomenon is called __________.

Question 31

Spontaneous recovery refers to the re-emergence of a _______________ to a ______________ following extinction as a consequence of the passage of time.

Question 32

What group of individuals may be especially vulnerable to conditioned taste aversion?

Question 33

Extinction is:

A) less fragile than acquisition.
B) more fragile than acquisition.
C) equally fragile as acquisition.
D) equally strong as acquisition.

Question 34

With reference to extinction in the context of classical conditioning, which of the following statements is INACCURATE?

A) Extinction is rather fragile
B) Extinction is important for psychotherapists
C) Extinction is not context-dependent
D) Extinction is often used in exposure therapy

Question 35

__________ describes a phenomenon by which conditioning is not successful when the CS has been presented multiple times without the US before conditioning. This is caused by pre-exposure of the CS reducing the amount of __________ that the CS can capture.

Question 36

__________ occurs when one stimulus influences the ability of another stimulus to evoke a CR. One of the best examples of this phenomenon is known as __________.

Question 37

In the context of a blocking experiment, A is a CS which is paired with a US, leading to a CR. After some trials, A is paired with a novel CS (i.e. B), followed by a US. At the end of the experiment, B is presented in isolation. Which of the following scenarios is the MOST likely to occur?

A) B is very strong at evoking CR.
B) B is stronger than A at evoking CR.
C) B is very weak at evoking CR.
D) B leads to extinction.

Question 38

In the famous "puzzle box" experiments, the cat would find the way to open the cage's door relatively quickly.

Question 39

Three-year-old Kate is an extremely finicky eater. Her mother is concerned that Kate's unwillingness to try new fruits and vegetables will negatively impact her growth and development. Which of the following techniques is the best motivator for behavioural change?

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

Question 40

Michael was pulled over by the police for driving by himself in a lane reserved for two persons in the car. He has to pay a £400 fine for this violation. This is an example of _______.

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

Question 41

Four-year old Dylan receives a "time-out" at preschool for deliberately knocking down another child in order to take his tricycle. Because of his misdeed Dylan's teacher removed him from the playground and told him to sit quietly in a chair in the corner of the classroom for the next five minutes. "Time-out" is considered an example of _________.

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

Question 42

Describe the difference between punishment and reinforcement.

Question 43

In S-R learning proposed by Thorndike, S stands for __________ and R stands for __________.

Question 44

Which psychologist discovered extinction in instrumental conditioning?

Question 45

What will it probably happen to the instrumental conditioning if the animal presses a lever that no longer results in the administration of a reinforcement?

Question 46

Psychology's interest in instrumental conditioning may be traced to ________'s early studies of hungry cats learning to escape from cages.

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

Question 47

"Of several responses made to the same situation, those which are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction to the animal will, other things being equal, be more firmly connected with the situation." (Thorndike, 1911, p. 244)."This is the law of ________.

A) consequences
B) reward
C) effect
D) reinforcement

Question 48

In the context of classical conditioning, a conditioned reinforcement is similar to an effect known as:

A) second-order conditioning
B) classical conditioned reinforcement
C) second-order reinforcement
D) classical conditioned reward

Question 49

Hyde (1976) showed that rats pressed a lever if it was followed by a tone, but only if the tone had previously been established as a CS for food. This effect is an example of:

A) classical conditioning
B) second-order conditioning
C) conditioned reinforcement
D) sensitization

Question 50

The mechanisms of instrumental conditioning can be useful to study the phenomenon of:

A) spirit possession
B) superstition
C) day dreaming
D) hypnosis

Question 51

Two rats are placed in a 'puzzle box' together. Rat A previously learned that by pressing on a pedal food will be deliver into the box. After a few days, rat B starts pressing on the pedal too. In this case rat A was the __________, while rat B was the __________.

Question 52

The demonstrator draws the observer's attention to an object (e.g. food), encouraging the observer to interact with it later. What is this phenomenon called?

Question 53

Describe Mineka and Cook (1988) experiment on observational fear conditioning in monkeys.

Question 54

Describe the difference between mimicry and imitation.

Question 55

What category of neurons respond for both action observation and action execution?

Question 56

Where were mirror neurons first observed?

A) In birds
B) In monkeys
C) In humans
D) In rats

Question 57

Mirror neurons fire only when a monkey observes a co-specific performing a given action.

Question 58

Beckers and colleagues (2006), proposed that the blocking effect in humans is caused by __________ rather than __________.

Question 59

Complete this modus tollens: if p then q, not q, therefore:

A) not p
B) not q
C) p
D) z

Question 60

What is the consequence of having an association between two events?

Question 61

What is an association?

Question 62

Name two major types of conditioning?

Question 63

What stimuli were likely to be associated in Pavlov's experiment?

A) Food-salivation
B) Bell-food
C) Bell-salivation
D) Food-experimenter

Question 64

Which of the following is not a critical factor of the Rescorla-Wagner model?

A) The perceived intensity of the CS
B) The objective intensity of the US
C) The perceived intensity of US
D) the surprisingness of the US

Question 65

Which of the following has a critical role in the Rescorla-Wagner model?

A) Happiness
B) Fear
C) Anger
D) Surprise

Question 66

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, if the occurrence of the US surprising, then:

A) US will be associated with the CS
B) US will not be associated with the CS
C) The association between US and CS will not change
D) The association between US and CS will change

Question 67

What is surprise according to Rescorla and Wagner?

Question 68

If the surprisingness of the US is zero, what would be the learning outcome?

Question 69

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, what is the predicted learning outcome when the CS is not perceived?

Question 70

Which of the following factors explains blocking according to the Rescorla-Wagner model?

A) The novel stimulus is less intense.
B) The novel stimulus makes the US less intense.
C) The novel stimulus is added when the US is no more surprising.
D) None of the above

Question 71

Which of the following is an example of discrimination learning?

A) Opposite patterning
B) Double patterning
C) Negative patterning
D) Alternative patterning

Question 72

Which of the following statements regarding discrimination learning is INACCURATE?

A) The Rescorla-Wagner model provides the best explanation for this type of learning.
B) Animals, and not only humans, are able to solve a discrimination learning task.
C) In discrimination learning tasks, different stimuli signal different outcomes.
D) Discrimination learning tasks' findings suggest that animals represent stimuli holistically.

Question 73

Which of the following terms BEST describe the concept of 'holistic representation'?

A) Sum-of-its-parts
B) Configuration
C) Fragmentation
D) Piecemeal

Question 74

Which of the following phenomena can be explained by the Rescorla-Wagner model?

A) Extinction
B) Blocking
C) Conditioned inhibition
D) All of the above

Question 75

What are the main limitations of the Rescorla-Wagner model?

Question 76

Humans, but not animals, represent stimuli in a configural manner.

Question 77

To date, the Rescorla-Wagner model continues to be an influential theory of learning in both animals and humans.

Question 78

Neural mechanisms for learning include:

A) long-term powering
B) long-term potentiation
C) long-term processing
D) long-term enhancement

Question 79

Where was long-term potentiation first observed?

A) In the spinal cord
B) In the cerebellum
C) In the hippocampus
D) In the hypothalamus

Question 80

The amplitude of a neural population's spike to a low-intensity pulse can be increased through experience, a phenomenon called:

A) Long-term depression
B) Long-term potentiation
C) Habituation
D) Sensitization