Deck 5: Evolutionary Psychology: Learning, Biology, and the Brain

Question 1

Taste aversions

A) occur as a result of repeated pairings.
B) are acquired as a result of continuous reinforcement.
C) illustrate trace pairing.
D) are biological predispositions.

Answer 1

illustrate trace pairing.

Question 2

Researchers and theorists who focus on genetics and biology are sometimes referred to as

A) cognitive psychologists.
B) evolutionary psychologists.
C) introspective psychologists.
D) conditioning psychologists.

Answer 2

evolutionary psychologists.

Question 3

After seeing a new ice cream flavor, Blue Tropical Paradise, advertised on television, I go to the ice cream store to partake in two scoops of that treat. I become very ill a couple of hours later. According to taste aversion learning, what element of this experience will I learn to avoid?

A) Blue Tropical Paradise ice cream
B) television commercials
C) any blue-colored food
D) two scoops of ice cream

Answer 3

Blue Tropical Paradise ice cream

Question 4

What is "blocked" when blocking occurs is

A) information to be recalled.
B) new learning.
C) reinforcement.
D) biological predispositions.

Question 5

Which of the following skills would "right brained" individuals not be expected to do better with?

A) verbal skills
B) artistic skills
C) musical skills
D) emotional intelligence

Question 6

Learning which occurs without the new behavior being reinforced is known as

A) blocking.
B) operant conditioning.
C) automatic learning.
D) autoshaping.

Question 7

Which of the following is an assumption of a behavioristic approach to learning?

A) Environmental factors do not affect learning.
B) Biological factors do not affect learning.
C) Cognitive factors have an important effect on learning.
D) Biology, cognitive, and environmental factors have an interactive effect on learning.

Question 8

The Rescorla-Wagner model explains blocking as

A) subject distractibility.
B) inadequate number of pairings.
C) a result of backward pairing.
D) depletion of associative strength.

Question 9

Prepotency of a behavior pattern is an explanation for

A) instinctive drift.
B) counterconditioning.
C) biofeedback.
D) blocking.

Question 10

Instinctive drift and autoshaping are examples of

A) sociological aversions.
B) ineffective reinforcement schedules.
C) biological constraints.
D) trace pairing.

Question 11

Which of the following does not characterize biological constraints?

A) They favor behaviors with survival value.
B) They deal with contrapreparedness.
C) They inhibit behavior detrimental to survival.
D) They always facilitate learning.

Question 12

The following characteristics of men's brains are true except for:

A) Men's brains on average are larger than those of women.
B) Parts of the brain linked with sex and aggression are more developed among men.
C) Areas of the frontal and temporal lobes associated with language are larger in men.
D) The part of the parietal lobe associated with spatial relationships and mathematics is more developed in men.

Question 13

Biofeedback involves receiving information regarding

A) psychological functioning.
B) physiological functioning.
C) genetic predispositions.
D) biological constraints.

Question 14

Biofeedback techniques have been used with

A) asthmatic conditions and migraine headaches.
B) pecking and rooting.
C) verbal and nonverbal messages.
D) medical diagnosis.

Question 15

Biofeedback research has supported the following claim:

A) Autonomic behaviors can be brought under control through classical conditioning.
B) Voluntary behaviors can be brought under stimulus control.
C) Voluntary behavior is resistant to operant conditioning.
D) Autonomic functions can be brought under control through operant conditioning.

Question 16

Which of the following describes biofeedback?

A) Biofeedback techniques provide a direct challenge to operant conditioning.
B) Information is received about an organism's own functioning.
C) Feedback is received about others' responses to one's behavior.
D) Autonomic functioning of an organism is not available though contemporary feedback technology.

Question 17

Early conditioning theorists' expectations may be characterized by which of the following?

A) Expectations regarding wide applicability of their theories have been confirmed.
B) Research has demonstrated that all operant behavior may be conditioned.
C) Research has demonstrated that all respondent behavior may be conditioned.
D) Expectations regarding applicability of the theories have not been confirmed.

Question 18

Which of the following is true with regard to sociobiology?

A) Research strongly supports its applicability to a wide range of human social behaviors.
B) It has had a profound impact on numerous theories of human behavior.
C) Sociobiology does not have widespread acceptance.
D) Criticism of sociobiology has been minimal

Question 19

Altruism in its extreme form may result in the choice of death. Altruism and the law of survival of the fittest have the following relationship:

A) Altruism contradicts the law since the individual fails to survive.
B) Those who engage in altruistic acts are not among the fittest.
C) Altruism supports the law to the extent that those who remain possess genetic material that is an advantage to the species.
D) Altruism supports the law, as self-sacrifice always results in a net advantage to a species.

Question 20

The necessity of contiguity and repeated pairings in learning are brought into question by

A) reflexes and instincts.
B) instinctive drift and blocking.
C) autoshaping and instinctive drift.
D) taste aversion and blocking.

Question 21

Which of the following brings into question the importance of reinforcement?

A) reflexes and instincts
B) taste aversions and blocking
C) instinctive drift and blocking
D) autoshaping and instinctive drift

Question 22

Which of the following does not describe autoshaping?

A) Learning occurs despite reinforcement schedules.
B) The effects of a behavior are important considerations.
C) Behavior has no relationship to its consequences.
D) Behavior persists even when reinforcement is withdrawn.

Question 23

Instinctive drift is described by which of the following?

A) Instincts inhibit acquisition of new behavior.
B) A prepotency of instinctive behavior over conditioned behavior exists.
C) Persistent conditioning may overcome instincts.
D) Unconditioned behavior persists over instincts.

Question 24

Which of the following is not one of the most important structures of the forebrain?

A) hypothalamus
B) hippocampus
C) thalamus
D) cerebrum

Question 25

When previous learning interferes with new learning the effect is called

A) contrapreparedness.
B) a genetic predisposition.
C) blocking.
D) autoshaping.

Question 26

Which of the following does not describe conditioning?

A) Not all behavior can be conditioned through the careful arrangement of response consequences.
B) If behavior cannot be conditioned through classical conditioning techniques, then it can be conditioned through operant conditioning techniques.
C) Not all behavior can be conditioned through contiguity and repeated pairings.
D) Not all behavior is biologically based.

Question 27

Inclusive fitness refers to the fitness of

A) subjects included in a study.
B) sociologically compatible groups
C) the researcher.
D) genetically related groups in terms of likelihood of procreation.

Question 28

According to Gardner and Foster, sociobiology may be described as

A) the study of the effects of the environment on biology.
B) the study of social influences on biology.
C) the study of the biological determination of human nature.
D) the investigation of genetic transmission.

Question 29

The study of animal behavior in a natural habitat is known as

A) biology.
B) ethology.
C) sociobiology.
D) psychobiology.

Question 30

Who argued that humans are biologically prepared to acquire language?

A) Skinner
B) Rescorla
C) Chomsky
D) Guthrie

Question 31

Which of the following is not a biological constraint?

A) biofeedback
B) autoshaping
C) taste aversion
D) instinctive drift

Question 32

The existence of autoshaping infers

A) some organisms have a higher level of intelligence.
B) some organisms are more passive than others.
C) operant conditioning is not possible with lower life forms.
D) some behaviors resist operant conditioning.

Question 33

Which is not a belief which has characterized learning theory in the 20th century?

A) The human mind is malleable.
B) The environment is prepotent in shaping the mind.
C) Human biology is an important determinant of behavior.
D) The human mind has a passive effect on behavior.

Question 34

An important function of taste aversion is

A) weight control.
B) specie distinctiveness.
C) behavior flexibility.
D) survival.

Question 35

According to brain-based approaches to human behavior, actual processing of information for meaning and associations occurs in the

A) whole brain.
B) mid brain.
C) cerebral cortex.
D) olfactory bulb

Question 36

Taste aversions often occur a long time after exposure to an illness producing food. This is referred to as a

A) delayed response.
B) cognitive decision.
C) latent inhibition.
D) survival instinct.

Question 37

Electrical stimulation of the brain can lead to the release of

A) agonists.
B) negative moods.
C) amphetamines.
D) dopamine.

Question 38

The following is not a brain imaging technique:

A) event related fields (ERF)
B) electroencephalogram (EEG)
C) positron emission tomography (PET)
D) magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Question 39

The most recent part of the brain to have evolved is the

A) hindbrain.
B) midbrain.
C) forebrain.
D) cerebellum.

Question 40

Parkinson's disease involves a failure in the midbrain to produce

A) cortisone.
B) estrogen.
C) triptamine.
D) dopamine.