Question 1

Which of the following statements is true for operant conditioning?

Accepted Answer

Avoidance training creates an association between a behavior and the prevention of an aversive stimulus, making it more resistant to extinction. The other statements are false as stronger learning makes extinction harder, complex behavior is generally harder to extinguish, and learning in multiple settings can actually make behavior more resistant to extinction.

Question 2

The control of conditioned responses by cues or stimuli in the environment is known as ________.

Accepted Answer

Stimulus control refers to the ability of the environment to elicit or control certain responses. This means that certain stimuli or cues in the environment can prompt specific behaviors or reactions. For example, a red stoplight serves as a cue or stimulus for drivers to stop their cars. This concept is important in behaviorism and can be applied to therapeutic interventions, such as exposure therapy for anxiety disorders, where individuals are gradually exposed to anxiety-provoking stimuli to reduce their fear response. The other answer choices (A, C, and D) do not accurately describe this concept.

Question 3

The transfer of a learned response to a different but similar stimulus is called ________.

Accepted Answer

Stimulus generalization is the transfer of a learned response to a different but similar stimulus. Response cost refers to the punishment or cost associated with performing an undesired behavior. Response generalization refers to the occurrence of a similar response to a different stimulus. Stimulus control refers to the degree of control that a particular stimulus has over behavior.

Question 4

A fourth-grade teacher realized that one of the students was misbehaving in order to receive attention. The teacher decided to ignore all instances of the misbehavior. The teacher is using ________.

Accepted Answer

The teacher is using extinction, which involves withholding reinforcement for a behavior that is no longer desired in order to decrease the likelihood of the behavior occurring in the future. By ignoring the misbehavior, the teacher is not providing attention (a form of reinforcement) for the misbehavior, and therefore the student may eventually stop engaging in the misbehavior. Negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive stimulus in order to increase the likelihood of a behavior, which is not being used by the teacher in this scenario. The Premack principle involves using a high-probability behavior as a reward for a low-probability behavior, which is also not being used in this scenario. Avoidance training involves teaching someone to perform a behavior in order to avoid an aversive consequence, which is not the case here.

Question 5

Laura is conditioned to fear white rats. Soon after, she also begins to fear white cats, white dogs, and white rabbits. Her new fears result from ________.

Accepted Answer

Laura's new fears result from stimulus generalization, where the fear of the white rat generalizes to other similar stimuli, such as white cats, dogs, and rabbits. Response generalization refers to the tendency for a learned response to occur in response to a similar, but not identical, stimulus. Stimulus discrimination refers to the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli, while vicarious reinforcement refers to learning through observation of others being reinforced for their behavior.

Question 6

In higher order conditioning, we pair a neutral stimulus with a(n) ________.

Accepted Answer

Higher order conditioning involves pairing a neutral stimulus with a previously conditioned stimulus (i.e. a conditioned stimulus that has already been paired with an unconditioned stimulus). Therefore, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through association with the previously conditioned stimulus.

Question 7

Stimulus control appears in ________ conditioning.

Accepted Answer

Stimulus control is a concept that appears in both classical and operant conditioning, as it refers to the phenomena of learning to respond to certain stimuli in specific ways. In classical conditioning, stimulus control occurs when a response is only elicited by a specific conditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, stimulus control occurs when a response is more likely to occur in the presence of a particular discriminative stimulus that signals reinforcement.

Question 8

A group of dogs is taught to salivate to the ringing of a bell by pairing the sound of the bell with the presentation of meat. Once the dogs have been conditioned to the sound of the bell, a black square is presented each time the bell is rung. Soon, the dogs are salivating to the presentation of the black square without it being paired to the presentation of the bell. This is an example of ________.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of higher order conditioning, where a conditioned stimulus (the black square) can elicit a conditioned response (salivation) without any further pairing with the original unconditioned stimulus (meat). The black square is able to elicit the response because it was paired with the conditioned stimulus (the sound of the bell) which had previously been paired with the unconditioned stimulus (the meat).

Question 9

Which of the following statements is not true?

Accepted Answer

Behaviors learned through punishment are actually more resistant to extinction than behaviors learned through other types of reinforcement.

Question 10

Your dog Hans loves to ride in the car. Whenever anyone picks up a set of keys he races for the door. When your grandmother, who is afraid of dogs, arrives for a visit, Hans is not allowed to ride in the car. By the end of her two-week visit, he has ceased going to the door when the keys come out. However, after a brief vacation away from home, he's back at the door again as soon as he hears the keys. Why?

Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery has occurred. This means that after a brief break, the previously extinct behavior (going to the door when hearing keys) reappears without any additional training or conditioning.

Question 11

A dog, taught to salivate to the sound of a buzzer, learned that the buzzer was no longer followed by food and stopped salivating to the buzzer. If the buzzer was again paired with food after a few weeks, the dog would probably ________.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of classical conditioning, where the dog has learned to associate the sound of the buzzer with food. When the association between the buzzer and food is broken, the dog stops salivating to the buzzer. However, if the buzzer is paired with food again after a few weeks, the dog will likely salivate again, as it has already learned the association between the two stimuli. This is known as spontaneous recovery, where a previously extinguished response re-emerges after a period of rest. Therefore, the correct answer is B - the dog would salivate if the buzzer is paired with food again.

Question 12

In classical conditioning, discrimination basically is the reverse of ________.

Accepted Answer

Discrimination in classical conditioning refers to the ability of an organism to distinguish between similar stimuli and respond differently to them. This is the opposite of generalization, where an organism responds to similar stimuli in the same way.

Question 13

Extinction and spontaneous recovery occur in ________ conditioning.

Accepted Answer

Extinction and spontaneous recovery can occur in both classical and operant conditioning. In classical conditioning, extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (US) until the conditioned response (CR) no longer occurs. Spontaneous recovery occurs when the CR reappears after a period of time without any further conditioning. In operant conditioning, extinction occurs when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer followed by the reinforcing consequence, resulting in a decrease in the frequency of the behavior. Spontaneous recovery can also occur in operant conditioning when the behavior suddenly reappears after a period of time without reinforcement.

Question 14

Conditioning based on previous learning, in which the conditioned stimulus serves as an unconditioned stimulus for further learning, is called ________ conditioning.

Accepted Answer

Higher order conditioning involves the use of a conditioned stimulus (CS) that was previously learned to serve as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) to create a new conditioned response (CR) to a new neutral stimulus. This is also sometimes called "second-order" conditioning or "higher-order" Pavlovian conditioning.

Question 15

A pigeon learns to peck at a red disk. It will not peck at an identical disk of any other color. This illustrates the concept of ________.

Accepted Answer

The behavior of the pigeon in pecking only at the red disk and not at identical disks of other colors shows discrimination, which is the ability to discern differences between stimuli and respond differently to them.

Question 16

Giving different responses to the same stimuli to which you were classically conditioned illustrates ________.

Accepted Answer

Response generalization occurs when an organism shows a conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus, but it can also refer to giving different responses to the same stimulus, indicating a variation in how the conditioned response is expressed.

Question 17

The process in which a learned response that has been extinguished suddenly reappears on its own with no retraining is called ________.

Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a conditioned response that had been extinguished, without any new learning being done. It is commonly observed following a period of rest, after extinction.

Question 18

The process of learning to respond only to a single specific object or event and inhibit the response to all other stimuli is called ________.

Accepted Answer

Stimulus discrimination is the process of learning to respond only to a single specific object or event and inhibit the response to all other stimuli.

Question 19

Reacting to a stimulus that is similar to one you have already learned to respond to is called ________.

Accepted Answer

Stimulus generalization occurs when an organism responds to a stimulus that is similar to the one it has learned to respond to, but not identical. This is a natural part of the learning process and allows individuals to apply what they have learned to similar situations. A) Modeling refers to the process of observing and imitating the behavior of others. B) Response generalization occurs when an organism responds to a variety of stimuli in the same way. C) Higher-order conditioning refers to the process of pairing a neutral stimulus with a conditioned stimulus to create a new conditioned stimulus.

Question 20

In operant conditioning, extinction occurs as a result of withholding ________.

Accepted Answer

Extinction in operant conditioning occurs when reinforcement for a behavior is withheld, causing the behavior to decrease or stop altogether. This is different from classical conditioning, where extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, causing the conditioned response to weaken and eventually disappear. Withholding the unconditioned stimulus or applying punishment would not result in extinction in operant conditioning.

Quiz 5: Learning