Question 1

Two processes involved in the acquisition of phobias and the tendency of phobias to show a high resistance to extinction are

Accepted Answer

Classical conditioning involves pairing a neutral stimulus (such as a spider) with an aversive stimulus (such as a shock or fear) until the neutral stimulus alone elicits the fear response. Operant conditioning involves reinforcing behaviors that avoid or escape the phobic stimulus, which can maintain the phobia. This explains the high resistance to extinction, as the avoidance behavior is constantly reinforced.

Question 2

How are punishment and negative reinforcement different?

Accepted Answer

Punishment is a consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. In contrast, negative reinforcement is a consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated by removing an aversive stimulus. Therefore, option D is the correct answer as it explains the key difference between punishment and negative reinforcement.

Question 3

As a teenager it seemed that your mom was always nagging you to clean your room. Eventually you learned that if you cleaned your room every Saturday morning you would not have to listen to her nagging. Your mother was successful in getting you to clean your room through the use of ____ to establish ____.

Accepted Answer

Negative reinforcement involves the removal of an unpleasant stimulus (in this case, nagging) to increase the likelihood of a behavior (cleaning the room). Avoidance learning occurs when the behavior prevents an unpleasant situation from happening.

Question 4

Your spouse withdraws attention from you each time you begin criticizing her cooking. Eventually, you stop criticizing your spouse's cooking. The withdrawal of attention can be categorized as

Accepted Answer

The withdrawal of attention in response to criticism functions as a punishment. It decreases the likelihood of the criticizing behavior occurring again by introducing an unpleasant consequence (loss of attention).

Question 5

When an event following a response weakens an organism's tendency to make that response, it is termed

Accepted Answer

Punishment is an event that decreases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated by introducing an adverse outcome or removing a positive stimulus following the behavior.

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT an example of punishment?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following is NOT an...

Question 7

Miguel used to enjoy occasionally drinking a glass of red wine, but when he drank too much red wine at a friend's party a few months ago he woke up with a terrible hangover. Since then Miguel refuses to drink any red wine. In this case, Miguel's hangover acted as

Accepted Answer

Miguel's hangover can be considered as a punishment for drinking red wine because it decreases the likelihood of him repeating the behavior. The unpleasant consequences of his actions served as a deterrent for future behavior. In this way, the hangover serves as punishment. Option A is incorrect because negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive stimulus to increase the likelihood of behavior. Option B is incorrect because a conditioned response is a learned response to a neutral stimulus that is paired with another stimulus to elicit a response. Option D is incorrect because a secondary reinforcer is a stimulus that becomes reinforcing through its association with a primary reinforcer. The hangover is not a secondary reinforcer for attending parties, nor does it make attending parties more likely or reinforce it.

Question 8

Car manufacturers try to encourage drivers to buckle their seat belts through the use of reinforcement. As you know, if you start your car without buckling-up you will hear a somewhat annoying sound. If you learn to buckle-up after hearing the sound, you show ____. If you acquire the response of buckling-up before you turn on the ignition, you show ____.

Accepted Answer

- Escape learning: learning to escape or terminate an aversive stimulus (in this case, the annoying sound) by performing a specific behavior (buckling up after hearing the sound).
- Avoidance learning: learning to avoid an aversive stimulus altogether by performing a specific behavior (in this case, buckling up before turning on the ignition).
Therefore, if someone learns to buckle-up after hearing the sound, they are showing escape learning. If they buckle-up before turning on the ignition, they are showing avoidance learning. The answer is B because it correctly matches these two types of learning with the corresponding scenarios.

Question 9

Which of the following statements about punishment is LEAST accurate?

Accepted Answer

Punishment is not simply the termination of an aversive condition; it is the application of aversive consequences after a behavior in order to decrease the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future. Option B describes negative reinforcement, not punishment.

Question 10

The tendency to make a response increases following the use of ____ and the tendency to make a response decreases following the use of ____.

Accepted Answer

The tendency to make a response increases following the use of negative reinforcement (removal of an aversive stimulus), and the tendency to make a response decreases following the use of punishment (presentation of an aversive stimulus). This is known as the law of effect in operant conditioning. Therefore, option B correctly identifies the order of these two types of consequences.

Question 11

Negative reinforcement ____ the rate of a response; punishment ____ the rate of a response.

Accepted Answer

Negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Thus, it increases the rate of a response. On the other hand, punishment involves adding an aversive stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Thus, it decreases the rate of a response.

Question 12

If one rat learns to bar-press to turn off an electric shock and a second rat learns to bar-press when a warning signal that precedes the shock is turned on, the first rat is demonstrating ____ and the second rat is demonstrating ____.

Accepted Answer

The first rat is demonstrating escape learning because it learns to perform a behavior to terminate an ongoing aversive stimulus (the shock). The second rat is demonstrating avoidance learning because it learns to perform a behavior to prevent the aversive stimulus (the shock) from occurring, by responding to a warning signal.

Question 13

Angela came home after her curfew last night; as a result, her parents have taken away her driving privileges for 1 week. What discipline technique are Angela's parents using?

Accepted Answer

Angela's parents are using punishment, which is a discipline technique aimed at decreasing the frequency of a behavior by applying an aversive stimulus (in this case, taking away her driving privileges) immediately following the behavior.

Question 14

Jane, your teenage daughter, was ridiculed at school for wearing a particular style of shirt. Now, she no longer wears that style of shirt to school. Being ridiculed is an example of

Accepted Answer

Ridicule is an example of punishment, which involves the presentation of an aversive stimulus (the ridicule) to decrease the likelihood of a behavior (wearing that style of shirt). Negative reinforcement (choice A) involves the removal of an aversive stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior, while positive reinforcement (choice B) involves the presentation of a reinforcing stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior. Modeling (choice D) involves learning by observing the behavior of others, but does not necessarily involve the use of punishment or reinforcement.

Question 15

Angela used to really enjoy diving for her school team, but at their most recent diving practice she hit her head on the diving board during her last dive. Since then she hasn't attended any of the team practices, and she refuses to dive. In this case, hitting her head on the board acted as

Accepted Answer

Hitting her head on the diving board acted as a punishment for diving because it resulted in Angela avoiding diving and not attending practices, which indicates a decrease in the behavior of diving due to the negative experience.

Question 16

Which of the following statements about punishment is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

Punishment actually decreases the frequency of undesired behavior, not increases it.

Question 17

The difference between punishment and negative reinforcement is that

Accepted Answer

Punishment and negative reinforcement are two types of consequences that can affect behavior. Punishment involves presenting an aversive consequence (something the person wants to avoid) after a behavior, with the goal of decreasing the likelihood of that behavior occurring in the future. Negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive consequence after a behavior, with the goal of increasing the likelihood of that behavior occurring in the future. So, punishment weakens behavior, while negative reinforcement strengthens behavior.

Question 18

Typically, most people would

Accepted Answer

The answer of Typically, most people would
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Question 19

Although there are many controversies surrounding punishment it is used frequently for disciplinary purposes. Which of the following are desirable aspects surrounding the use of punishment?

Accepted Answer

The only desirable aspect listed here is that punishment reduces the probability of undesirable behavior. The other options either do not apply to punishment or are not necessarily desirable aspects.

Question 20

Any event that follows a behavior and results in the behavior having a lower probability of happening in the future is known as a

Accepted Answer

A punisher is an event that follows a behavior and reduces the likelihood of that behavior occurring in the future. Negative reinforcement involves the removal of an aversive stimulus following a behavior that increases the probability of that behavior occurring in the future. Positive reinforcement involves the presentation of a desirable stimulus following a behavior that also increases the probability of that behavior occurring in the future. Vicarious conditioning refers to learning by observing the consequences of someone else's behavior.

Quiz 12: Learning Part 2