Question 1

Snakes,closed spaces,wild animals,and airplanes are common sources of phobias for humans.Why might it be that humans are less often treated for phobias involving rainbows,smiles,or cheerful people?

Accepted Answer

We are biologically and cognitively prepared to acquire certain fears, such as those related to potential dangers or threats to survival, as they helped our ancestors to survive in the wild. Positive stimuli, such as rainbows, smiles, or cheerful people, do not pose any immediate threat to our well-being, and therefore do not activate the fear response in the same way as negative stimuli do.

Question 2

Animals appear to be biologically prewired to easily learn behaviours that are related to their survival as a species because of evolutionary forces.This is referred to as ______________ .

Accepted Answer

Preparedness refers to the idea that organisms are biologically prepared to learn certain behaviours that are crucial for their survival. This is due to the impact of evolutionary forces that have shaped the development of their brains and sensory systems. Preparedness explains why animals are able to learn certain behaviours more easily and quickly than others. Latent learning refers to learning that occurs but is not immediately evident in behaviour. Operant extinction refers to the process of reducing the frequency of a behaviour by withholding reinforcement. Fixed action patterning refers to a sequence of behaviours that is elicited by a specific stimulus and typically performed in a stereotyped manner.

Question 3

A field of study,which is also known as behaviour modification,that combines a behavioural approach with the scientific method in order to solve individual and societal problems is called:

Accepted Answer

Applied behaviour analysis (ABA) is a field of study that uses a behaviourally-based approach to solve individual and societal problems. ABA combines the scientific method with an applied approach to produce meaningful and measurable changes in behaviour. It is used in various settings such as education, healthcare, and business to improve and enhance performance, communication, and learning. Constructivism, psychosocial theory, and psychometrics are all different fields of study that are not directly related to ABA.

Question 4

Tracy suffered from severe nausea for the first three months of her pregnancy.In order to make it easier on his wife,her husband used to order Chinese take-out food three or four evenings each week.Tracy knew she had to eat in order to nourish the baby so she forced herself to eat the take out food.When her child was six years old,he wanted to celebrate his birthday at a Chinese restaurant and Tracy became ill at the thought of eating Chinese food.For Tracy,the Chinese food had become so strongly associated with nausea that the association remained all these years later.This taste aversion is an example of :

Accepted Answer

The answer of Tracy suffered from severe nausea for the...

Question 5

Olag has severe symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.It is likely that neuroimaging studies will show:

Accepted Answer

Studies have shown that individuals with PTSD have increased activation of the amygdala, particularly the right amygdala, which is involved in fear processing and emotional memory. This increased activation can result in hyperarousal and hypervigilance, two common symptoms of PTSD. The prefrontal cortex, on the other hand, plays a role in regulating emotions and inhibiting the fear response. In individuals with PTSD, there is often decreased activation of the prefrontal cortex, which can contribute to the difficulty in regulating emotions and fear responses. However, the question specifically asks about neuroimaging studies and the likely findings, which would show increased activation of the right amygdala.

Question 6

According to the concept of instinctual drift,which of the following statements would be true?

Accepted Answer

According to instinctual drift, animals have a natural tendency to revert back to their instinctive behaviors, even when trained to perform a specific behavior. In this case, predicting which trained behavior is more likely to "drift" back to the instinctive behavior depends on how closely the trained behavior matches the animal's natural behavior. Pecking for food is a more natural behavior for a pigeon than pecking to escape a shock, so it would be harder to train a pigeon to peck a button to escape a shock compared to training it to peck a button to obtain food. Therefore, option C is the correct choice.

Question 7

The text discussed an experiment in which rats were exposed to x-rays that were paired with sweet water,a light,and a buzzer.The x-rays made the rats ill and the researchers wanted to know which stimuli would become associated with the illness.The results revealed that the rats avoided only the sweet water.The findings from this experiment were used to demonstrate the concept of ___________.

Accepted Answer

The experiment is an example of preparedness, which is the idea that organisms biologically predisposed to learn certain associations more easily than others. In this case, rats biologically evolved to avoid sweet things for survival reasons. Punishment, negative reinforcement, and multiple conditioning are not relevant concepts for this experiment.

Question 8

Neuroimaging studies have shown that response to a stimulus that signals the absence of shock and does not activate the amygdala is a certain type of stimulus.This is type of stimulus is ____________________.

Accepted Answer

A stimulus that signals the absence of shock is known as a negative conditioned stimulus. In classical fear conditioning, the pairing of a neutral stimulus (e.g. a tone) with an aversive stimulus (e.g. an electric shock) creates a conditioned response of fear to the previously neutral stimulus. However, when the tone is presented alone without the shock, it becomes a negative conditioned stimulus as it signals the absence of danger and does not activate the amygdala, a key brain region involved in fear processing.

Question 9

Escape conditioning and avoidance conditioning are maintained through:

Accepted Answer

Both escape conditioning and avoidance conditioning involve the removal or avoidance of an aversive stimulus through some sort of behavior. This is a form of negative reinforcement, in which the behavior is strengthened by removing an unpleasant consequence.

Question 10

A reinforcement system designed to reinforce desired behaviours that utilizes such items as points or chips that can be redeemed later for tangible rewards is called:

Accepted Answer

A reinforcement system that utilizes points or chips as rewards that can later be redeemed for tangible rewards is called a token economy. This system is often used in classrooms and therapeutic settings to encourage and reinforce appropriate behavior.

Question 11

Pairing the smell of food with a toxin can produce conditioned taste aversions.This is an illustration of the concept of:

Accepted Answer

Preparedness refers to the concept that organisms are biologically predisposed to associate certain stimuli more easily with certain responses, such as associating a specific taste or smell with illness, leading to conditioned taste aversions.

Question 12

Following the inappropriate pairing of a conditioned stimulus with an aversive unconditioned stimulus,an individual is most likely to develop:

Accepted Answer

After pairing a conditioned stimulus with an aversive unconditioned stimulus, an individual is most likely to develop a phobia, which is an intense and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity. The individual's fear response is a learned behavior that has been associated with the conditioned stimulus.

Question 13

Which of the following is most related to the concept of instinctual drift?

Accepted Answer

Instinctual drift refers to the tendency of an animal's behavior to revert to genetically controlled patterns. In this case, the chicken's natural instinct to peck at food took over its learned behavior of playing baseball.

Question 14

Which of the following best demonstrates how learned taste aversions can be used to help animals?

Accepted Answer

In this scenario, the coyote learns to associate the consumption of sheep hide with feeling sick. This can help deter the coyote from preying on sheep, ultimately reducing predation and helping farmers protect their livestock.

Question 15

Which of the following statements about fear conditioning is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

Fear conditioning is not typically associated with the development of schizophrenia, but rather anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Question 16

There are many examples of training animals to assist humans.Police dogs that are used to locate illegal drugs and pigeons that can peck a signal button when they spot an orange life-jacket in the water both demonstrate applications of the principles of _______________.

Accepted Answer

The examples provided, police dogs and pigeons, both involve training animals to perform a specific behavior (locating drugs or identifying life-jackets) in response to a stimulus (scent or visual cue). This type of training is best described as operant conditioning, where behaviors are shaped through reinforcement or punishment. Classical conditioning involves pairing a neutral stimulus with a naturally occurring stimulus to elicit a response (e.g. Pavlov's dogs salivating at the sound of a bell). Observational learning involves learning through watching and imitating others. Higher-order conditioning involves using previously conditioned stimuli to condition new stimuli (e.g. conditioning a response to a light by pairing it with a bell that has already been associated with food).

Question 17

In order to prevent coyotes from killing ranchers' sheep,pieces of sheep flesh have been laced with lithium chloride,a nausea-inducing drug.It is hoped that the coyote will then associate the nausea with the sheep and become less likely to kill them.This applied research capitalizes on the phenomenon of:

Accepted Answer

Preparedness refers to how animals have evolved to more easily learn certain associations between stimuli and responses if they have survival value. Coyotes have a natural inclination to prey on sheep, but they also have the capacity to learn from the consequences of their behavior. By inducing nausea in coyotes after they’ve consumed sheep, ranchers hope to create an aversion to consuming sheep in the future.

Question 18

The concept of instinctual drift refers to:

Accepted Answer

Instinctual drift refers to the tendency for a conditioned response to regress towards instinctual behavior. This means that even when an organism has learned a new response through conditioning, their natural instincts may still take over and cause them to revert to their instinctual behavior instead.

Question 19

When rats receive a shock that is paired with a light,a buzzer,and a sweet tasting food,in the future they tend to avoid the buzzer and the light but will continue to consume the sweet tasting food.This finding best demonstrates the concept of:

Accepted Answer

This finding demonstrates the concept of preparedness, which refers to the idea that organisms are biologically prepared to learn some associations more easily than others. In this case, rats have an innate aversion to loud noises and bright lights, but not to the taste of food, which makes them more likely to avoid the buzzer and light but continue to consume the sweet tasting food. Latent learning is the process of learning that occurs without reinforcement or apparent motivation. Observational learning involves learning by watching the behavior of others. Stimulus generalization refers to the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to a conditioned stimulus. None of these concepts fully explain the rats' response in this scenario.

Question 20

Some individuals appear to develop posttraumatic stress disorder following trauma while others do not.This appears to be associated with:

Accepted Answer

The loss of cortical control of the amygdala is associated with the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This can lead to an overactive fear response and difficulty regulating emotions and memories related to the traumatic event.

Quiz 7: Learning and Adaptation: the Role of Experience