Question 1

Naomi is afraid of dogs. While she is feeling relaxed, her therapist shows her a dog from a distance. The therapist gradually brings the dog closer until Naomi's fear is completely extinguished. In this scenario, which of the following techniques is being used to extinguish Naomi's fear of dogs?

Accepted Answer

Systematic desensitization is a form of exposure therapy where the therapist gradually exposes the client to the feared object or situation in a controlled environment. By slowly increasing the intensity of the exposure, the client's fear response is extinguished. This is the technique being used in the scenario described. Generalization refers to the tendency to respond to similar stimuli in the same way, free association is a technique used in psychoanalysis to explore unconscious thoughts and feelings, and discrimination refers to the ability to distinguish between different stimuli.

Question 2

__________is the recurrence of an extinguished response as a function of the passage of time.

Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery refers to the reappearance of a previously extinguished response after a period of time has passed without exposure to the conditioned stimulus.

Question 3

Identify a true statement about the types of reinforcers.

Accepted Answer

Immediate reinforcers are generally more effective than delayed reinforcers because they closely follow the behavior they are intended to reinforce, making it easier for the individual to associate the behavior with the reinforcement. This immediacy helps in establishing a stronger connection between the behavior and its consequences, enhancing the learning process.

Question 4

Peter was attacked by a black cat when he was young. Due to this, he developed a fear of cats. A few years later, his parents got him a black kitten, and his fear gradually extinguished. On his way to work one day, he saw a black cat running toward him and felt his old fear resurfacing. In this scenario, the recurrence of Peter's fear of cats is known as _____.

Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of time. In this scenario, even though Peter's fear of cats had been extinguished, it resurfaced when he saw a black cat running toward him.

Question 5

Joe is a web content writer. He gets paid $100 for every five articles he publishes. In this scenario, Joe's payment is based on the _____ of reinforcement.

Accepted Answer

Joe's payment is based on a fixed-ratio schedule as he receives a fixed amount ($100) for every fixed number (5) of articles he publishes.

Question 6

Asha has a fear of darkness. To extinguish this fear, she is placed in a dark room ensuring that she suffers no harm in the process. In this scenario, which of the following techniques is being used to reduce Asha's fear of the dark?

Accepted Answer

Flooding is a technique used in exposure therapy where the individual is exposed to a feared stimulus or situation in a gradual or sudden manner until the anxiety or fear response dissipates. In this scenario, Asha is being placed in a dark room, which may initially cause anxiety or fear, but over time can help her reduce her fear of darkness through habituation.

Question 7

_____ refers to an unlearned response in which an organism attends to a stimulus.

Accepted Answer

An orienting reflex is an unlearned response in which an organism attends to a stimulus. Counterconditioning (A) refers to changing the association between a conditioned stimulus and its conditioned response, while a conditioned reflex (B) is a learned response to a conditioned stimulus. Countertransference (D) refers to a therapist's emotional reaction to a client that may interfere with the therapeutic process.

Question 8

__________is an application of operant conditioning that assumes that any complex task can be broken down into a number of small steps that can be shaped individually and then combined in sequence to form the correct behavioral chain.

Accepted Answer

Programmed learning is based on the idea that any complex task (such as learning a new language or a specific skill) can be broken down into smaller, more manageable steps. Each step is taught separately, and once the learner has mastered one step, they move onto the next one. This approach is based on operant conditioning, as the reinforcement of successfully completing each step helps to shape the correct behavioral chain.

Question 9

In the context of fear-reduction techniques, behavior therapists frequently prefer__________, in which the client is gradually exposed to fear-evoking stimuli under circumstances in which he or she remains relaxed.

Accepted Answer

Systematic desensitization involves gradually exposing the client to fear-evoking stimuli while in a relaxed state, with the goal of reducing the fear response. Generalization refers to the transfer of a learned response to similar stimuli, partial reinforcement is a schedule of reinforcement in which only some responses are rewarded, and higher-order conditioning involves pairing a neutral stimulus with a previously established conditioned stimulus to create a new conditioned response.

Question 10

__________is a schedule of reinforcement in which every correct response is reinforced.

Accepted Answer

Continuous reinforcement is a schedule of reinforcement in which every correct response is reinforced. Fixed-ratio, partial, and variable-ratio reinforcement schedules all involve reinforcement for a certain number of responses or after a certain amount of time has passed.

Quiz 5: Learning