Deck 1: The Psychology of Learning and Memory

Question 1

Which of the following people believed that human ability is due to a combination of both nature and nurture?

A)Gottfried Leibniz
B)Plato
C)John Locke
D)Aristotle

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The view that all the ideas we have are the result of experience is called:

A)associationism.
B)dualism.
C)empiricism.
D)nativism.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of a stimulus in René Descartes's reflex arc?

A)a person being tapped on the shoulder
B)spirits flowing from the shoulder to the brain
C)spirits being reflected back from the brain to the muscles
D)a person turning around to see who has tapped him on the shoulder

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The principle that the mind and body exist as separate entities,each with different characteristics and governed by its own laws,is called:

A)associationism.
B)contiguity.
C)dualism.
D)nativism.

Question 5

Which of the following was a proponent of associationism?

A)Gottfried Leibniz
B)René Descartes
C)William James
D)Plato

Question 6

Sets of statements devised to explain a collection of facts are called:

A)data.
B)theories.
C)associations.
D)symbols.

Question 7

René Descartes:

A)was an empiricist.
B)introduced the idea of associationism.
C)claimed that a newborn's mind was a blank slate.
D)believed in dualism.

Question 8

René Descartes believed that:

A)the mind controls the body.
B)the mind and body are governed by the same laws.
C)the body works through a system of reflex arcs.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 9

According to Aristotle's principle of frequency,the ideas of "chair" and "table" are linked because:

A)we see chairs and tables together at the same time.
B)we see chairs and tables together n the same place.
C)we see chairs and tables together very often.
D)both chairs and tables are furniture commonly found in kitchens.

Question 10

Gary attended a party and bumped into a friend he had not seen in years.Seeing the friend immediately triggered memories of things they had done together.Which idea about memory does this example demonstrate?

A)ativism
B)dualism
C)associationism
D)mpiricism

Question 11

Which of the following is true?

A)Philosophers gain insight through scientific experiments.
B)The study of learning and memory has always been a scientific pursuit.
C)Insights gained through philosophy are more important than those gained through science.
D)Today people who study learning and memory consider themselves to be scientists.

Question 12

Bonita believes we learn about the mind mainly by using logic and intuition;Miguel believes it would be better to measure the activity of the brain.Bonita is following the philosophy of _____ ,while Miguel is following the philosophy of __________.

A)Aristotle;Locke
B)Plato;Aristotle
C)Descartes;Plato
D)James;Locke

Question 13

Barry was in a car accident in which he was not wearing a seatbelt.He was not injured,and now,based on this experience,he believes that seatbelts are unnecessary.Barry exhibits the views of:

A)empiricism.
B)nativism.
C)associationism.
D)dualism.

Question 14

Which of the following would argue that the complex idea of "dog" is comprised of a combination of simpler ideas such as "furry","bark," and "friendly"?

A)René Descartes
B)Plato
C)John Locke
D)Gottfried Leibniz

Question 15

Someone who believes that humans and animals are fundamentally different from each other would agree with the views of:

A)Plato.
B)Charles Darwin.
C)Aristotle.
D)Francis Galton.

Question 16

Jenny has three children.She believes that as long as she treats them exactly the same,they will all grow up to have the same personality and intelligence level.Jenny's idea resembles that of which philosopher?

A)Plato
B)René Descartes
C)Gottfried Leibniz
D)John Locke

Question 17

Megan has decided to drop out of her English class because she feels that no matter how hard she works,she is just not capable of learning the material.Megan exhibits the views of:

A)empiricism.
B)nativism.
C)associationism.
D)dualism.

Question 18

Who believed that children are born a "blank slate?"

A)Gottfried Leibniz
B)Plato
C)John Locke
D)René Descartes

Question 19

Which of the following was considered a nativist?

A)Aristotle
B)René Descartes
C)John Locke
D)William James

Question 20

According to ________,attending a soccer game might activate a memory of having attended a hockey game the previous day because there would be an association between some of the components the two events have in common.

A)William James
B)Charles Darwin
C)René Descartes
D)Francis Galton.

Question 21

In Ebbinghaus's studies of memory,the length of delay between learning and relearning was the:

A)independent variable.
B)dependent variable.
C)confounding variable.
D)placebo.

Question 22

Suppose you are trying to learn a list of words.It takes you eight minutes to learn the list the first time you try.You return the next day and study the list again,and find that it takes you only two minutes.How much of a time savings has occurred?

A)25%
B)75%
C)100%
D)125%

Question 23

Who conducted the first rigorous experimental studies of human memory?

A)William James
B)Francis Galton
C)Charles Darwin
D)Hermann Ebbinghaus

Question 24

In studying memory,Ebbinghaus was concerned that his data would be affected by the fact that he was more familiar with some words than others.He avoided this problem by using:

A)real words that were familiar but very short.
B)real words that were unfamiliar to him.
C)three-letter nonsense words.
D)strings of digits.

Question 25

Galton predicted that people who were prayed for more would be healthier and live longer than people who were prayed for less.This prediction is known as a(n):

A)correlation.
B)hypothesis.
C)confound.
D)bell-shaped curve.

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT one of Charles Darwin's proposed criteria for traits to evolve through natural selection?

A)The trait must be inheritable.
B)The trait must be able to be learned.
C)The trait must vary.
D)The trait must make the individual more fit to survive.

Question 27

That Ebbinghaus served as his own participant was problematic because:

A)his expectations might have influenced the results.
B)he could not manipulate an independent variable.
C)his studies were double-blind.
D)he didn't have any experimenter bias.

Question 28

In a double-blind experimental design:

A)the participant knows the hypothesis being tested.
B)the experimenter knows the hypothesis being tested.
C)both the participant and the experimenter know the hypothesis being tested.
D)neither the participant nor the experimenter knows the hypothesis being tested.

Question 29

Hermann Ebbinghaus measured forgetting by:

A)measuring how long it took to relearn a previously learned list.
B)measuring how long it took him to learn a list perfectly.
C)seeing how long a list he could remember after hearing the list just once.
D)counting the number of times he needed to hear a list before he could recall it perfectly.

Question 30

Classical conditioning involves:

A)learning that one stimulus predicts an important event.
B)studying lists of short nonsense words.
C)learning to make responses in order to obtain rewards or avoid punishment.
D)studying how to build computers to perform behaviors requiring human intelligence.

Question 31

Why was Charles Darwin's view of natural selection controversial?

A)It suggested that there was not a major distinction between man and other species.
B)Darwin had no data to back up his claims.
C)Nobody believed that traits could be inherited.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 32

Suppose two moths are colored such that they blend in with the trees in the forest where they live.If one moth's coloring blends in much better than the other's,that moth will have less chance of being eaten by predators,and will therefore be more likely to reproduce,thus passing its beneficial coloring on to its offspring.This is an example of:

A)natural selection.
B)a reflex arc.
C)eugenics.
D)the law of effect.

Question 33

While most bacteria are eliminated by antibiotics,some can possess mutations that are resistant to antibiotics,leading to more drug-resistant strains of bacteria.Such a mutation is an example of which of Charles Darwin's proposed criteria for traits to evolve through natural selection?

A)The trait must be inheritable.
B)The trait must be able to be learned.
C)The trait must vary.
D)The trait must make the individual more fit to survive.

Question 34

Who introduced the term "eugenics"?

A)Francis Galton
B)Charles Darwin
C)Erasmus Darwin
D)John Locke

Question 35

Charles Darwin observed that finches on different islands had different types of beaks that were most suited to coping with the environment of their particular island.From this insight,he concluded that:

A)life on earth is immutably fixed.
B)life on earth is evolving.
C)animals were created in their present form by God.
D)animals migrate to locations that are most suitable.

Question 36

The theory of evolution is relevant to the study of learning and memory because:

A)learned information is passed on to offspring.
B)the type of information people learn varies across individuals.
C)people are born as "blank slates."
D)learning is useful in allowing organisms to adapt to the environment.

Question 37

Eugenics is a program for:

A)reducing the influence of confounding variables.
B)encouraging procreation only among the most fit members of society.
C)ensuring a bell-shaped distribution of behavioral traits.
D)generating testable hypotheses.

Question 38

In Ebbinghhaus's retention curve:

A)the greatest savings occurred with short delays between learning and relearning.
B)most forgetting occurred when relearning took place after about 150 hours.
C)forgetting occurred very gradually over several days.
D)the greatest savings occurred when relearning took place after about 100 hours.

Question 39

In a normal distribution:

A)most scores will occur in the high range.
B)most scores will occur in the low range.
C)most scores will fall in the middle range.
D)scores will be evenly spread across the entire range.

Question 40

If you believe that people's abilities are inherited,you agree with the ideas of:

A)John Locke.
B)Aristotle.
C)Francis Galton.
D)John Watson.

Question 41

After a pigeon learns to peck at a green light,the pigeon also pecks at a light that is a slightly different shade of green.This is an example of:

A)the learning curve.
B)the law of effect.
C)extinction.
D)generalization.

Question 42

If dogs are presented with a bell followed by food,they quickly learn to salivate in response to the bell.If the bell is then presented without any food,what happens to the salivation response?

A)It becomes gradually stronger.
B)It becomes gradually weaker.
C)It stops immediately.
D)It continues at the same strength.

Question 43

The specifics of Clark Hull's equations for learning:

A)have never been very influential.
B)were rejected early on but are highly relevant today.
C)were important early on and continue to be influential today.
D)are not considered relevant today.

Question 44

Cancer patients can develop an aversion to foods they eat right before undergoing chemotherapy.Although the foods themselves do not initially cause feelings of illness,pairing them with chemotherapy,which does cause patients to feel sick,leads to the foods becoming associated with these same feelings.This is an example of:

A)classical conditioning.
B)instrumental conditioning.
C)the law of effect.
D)extinction.

Question 45

John Watson's studies of rats running through mazes demonstrated that rats had learned to use_____ to navigate.

A)their vision and hearing
B)an automatic set of motor habits
C)their sense of smell
D)their whiskers

Question 46

Who was the founder of behaviorism?

A)John B.Watson
B)Edward Thorndike
C)B)F.Skinner
D)Ivan Pavlov

Question 47

John Watson's research was:

A)admired by both the scientific community and the popular press.
B)criticized for its cruelty to animals.
C)rejected by the entire scientific community.
D)praised for its focus on the inner workings of the mind.

Question 48

Who proposed the law of effect?

A)Ivan Pavlov
B)John B.Watson
C)Edward Thorndike
D)B)F.Skinner

Question 49

In which type of learning do organisms learn to respond in order to obtain or avoid important consequences?

A)classical conditioning
B)instrumental (operant)conditioning
C)latent learning
D)connectionist learning

Question 50

B.F.Skinner discovered that when animals are given intermittent reinforcements,they:

A)respond less than when they are rewarded on every trial.
B)do not respond at all.
C)respond for the first few trials but then stop responding.
D)respond at least as well as when they are rewarded on every trial.

Question 51

Mary wants to encourage her son to work harder in school.She has decided to reward him with money for good grades,and punish him by adding extra chores for bad grades.Mary's approach is most similar to the ideas of which of the following?

A)Edward Thorndike
B)Ivan Pavlov
C)Herbert Simon
D)David Rumelhart

Question 52

Who proposed the extreme form of behaviorism known as radical behaviorism?

A)B)F.Skinner
B)John B.Watson
C)Clark Hull
D)Edward Thorndike

Question 53

Which of the following researchers is considered a behaviorist?

A)Gordon Bower
B)George Miller
C)David Rumelhart
D)Clark Hull

Question 54

The person who first attempted to develop a comprehensive mathematical model of animal learning was:

A)Edward Thorndike.
B)Ivan Pavlov.
C)John B.Watson.
D)Clark Hull.

Question 55

Marty's dog always sits when Marty opens th e cupboard to get the dog a biscuit.How would a behaviorist describe the dog's behavior?

A)The dog thinks that if he sits,he will get a biscuit.
B)The dog is hungry,so his instincts tell him to sit.
C)The dog expects to get a biscuit when Marty opens the cupboard.
D)The dog sits when Marty opens the cupboard.

Question 56

If a rat receives a food reward whenever it presses a lever,the likelihood of the rat pressing the lever will increase.This is an example of:

A)classical conditioning.
B)generalization.
C)the law of effect.
D)savings.

Question 57

Behaviorism focuses on the study of:

A)brain processes.
B)internal thoughts.
C)intentions.
D)observable behaviors.

Question 58

Pavlov paired a bell with food until a dog learned to salivate in response to the bell.To produce extinction,Pavlov:

A)rang the bell more quietly.
B)paired the bell with a different kind of food.
C)stopped ringing the bell.
D)paired the bell with the absence of food.

Question 59

In Watson's studies,which of the following was found to impair rats' ability to navigate through mazes they had previously learned?

A)blinding the rats
B)removing the rats' whiskers
C)eliminating all odors in the maze
D)rotating the maze

Question 60

The person who developed the form of learning known as classical conditioning is:

A)Francis Galton.
B)Ivan Pavlov.
C)Hermann Ebbinghaus.
D)John B.Watson.

Question 61

If a person learns a task by insight,we expect performance to:

A)increase gradually across trials.
B)show a sudden jump on one particular trial and remain high thereafter.
C)show a sudden jump on one particular trial and then gradually decline.
D)remain relatively constant across all trials.

Question 62

Suppose you encounter construction while driving home.You cannot take your normal route,but have no trouble in determining an alternate route that will get you home.This ability is MOST like the behavior of animals in which researcher's studies?

A)John.B.Watson
B)Edward Tolman
C)Ivan Pavlov
D)B)F.Skinner

Question 63

If rats are allowed to freely explore a maze without being given a food reward,and later are put in the maze again with a food reward in the goal box,the rats:

A)learn the maze as quickly as rats that have never been exposed to the maze.
B)learn the maze more quickly than rats that have never been exposed to the maze.
C)learn the maze more slowly than rats that have never been exposed to the maze.
D)are unable to learn the maze.

Question 64

Connectionist models propose that learning and memory involve:

A)the storage and manipulation of symbols and labeled links.
B)networks of uniform and unlabeled connections.
C)random sampling of possible elements associated with a stimulus.
D)a one-step process of going from ignorance to knowledge in a single trial.

Question 65

Who believed that rats were forming a "cognitive map" when they learned to navigate through a maze?

A)Clark Hull
B)Ivan Pavlov.
C)John B.Watson
D)Edward Tolman

Question 66

Who adapted information theory to psychology?

A)George Miller
B)W)K.Estes
C)Gordon Bower
D)Clark Hull

Question 67

Which idea suggests that humans function by blindly producing preprogrammed learned responses to environmental stimuli?

A)information theory
B)learning by insight
C)neo-behaviorism
D)radical behaviorism

Question 68

What was Gordon Bower's concern regarding reporting average learning curves for a large group of people?

A)The average may demonstrate incremental learning even if all individuals demonstrate learning by insight.
B)The results may not be generalizable to other groups of people.
C)The average fails to distinguish between slow and quick learners.
D)The results from lab experiments may not apply to the real world.

Question 69

Gordon Bower believed that:

A)learning is a gradual,incremental process.
B)it is important to look at the average of learning scores.
C)learning can be explained by a mathematical model.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 70

Whose book described a Utopian society in which socially desirable behaviors would be maintained through behaviorist training techniques?

A)John B.Watson
B)B)F.Skinner
C)Edward Tolman
D)Clark Hull

Question 71

Which of the following was a reason that behaviorism lost its appeal?

A)Its methods were not precise enough.
B)It focused too much on internal representations.
C)It could not explain higher-level cognitive processes.
D)Its ideas could not be specified mathematically.

Question 72

If you are driven to school by your friend each day,you will probably learn the route and be able to drive it yourself later on,even though you are never rewarded for driving it.This is an example of:

A)generalization.
B)latent learning.
C)the law of effect.
D)a placebo effect.

Question 73

"Behavior reeks of purpose" was the maxim of:

A)B)F.Skinner.
B)Edward Thorndike.
C)Edward Tolman.
D)John B.Watson.

Question 74

Humans and animals do not always make the same response to the same stimuli.Which theory provides an explanation for this apparent randomness in learning?

A)Hull's mathematical model
B)stimulus sampling theory
C)information theory
D)radical behaviorism

Question 75

George Miller discovered that the average digit span is:

A)about 15.
B)exactly 3.
C)about 7.
D)more than 20.

Question 76

Who proposed connectionist models of the mind?

A)Clark Hull
B)Gordon Bower
C)David Rumelhart
D)George Miller

Question 77

Mathematical psychology was established by:

A)Edward Tolman.
B)William James.
C)B)F.Skinner.
D)W)K.Estes.

Question 78

Which subfield of psychology focuses on human abilities such as thinking,language,and reasoning?

A)classical conditioning
B)neo-behaviorism
C)cognitive psychology
D)behaviorism

Question 79

The idea that rats have a cognitive map of a maze is supported by the finding that rats:

A)only learn to navigate the maze if a food reward is given at the end.
B)cannot navigate the maze if their usual route is blocked.
C)can navigate the maze even if they start from a novel position.
D)require only one trial to learn the layout of a maze.

Question 80

Suppose a student is trained to press the "A" key when a high-pitched tone is played and the "B" key when a low-pitched tone is played.Even after hundreds of trials of training,the student will probably still occasionally press the wrong button.How can this be explained by stimulus sampling theory?

A)The student is tired and more prone to mistakes after so many trials.
B)After a while,the student may temporarily forget which key is the correct one.
C)The connection between the tone and the key deteriorates after repeated presentation.
D)The tone activates a subset of elements that are not yet linked to the correct key.