Question 1

Psychologist John Garcia conditioned rats to have a taste aversion to sweet-tasting water by injecting them with a drugthat made them ill. Using classical conditioning terminology,what was the conditioned response (CR) in this experimental situation?

Accepted Answer

The conditioned response (CR) in this experimental situation is getting ill in response to the sweet-flavored water. The rats were conditioned to associate the sweet-tasting water with the drug that made them ill, resulting in a learned aversion to the sweet water. Therefore, when presented with the sweet water in the future, the rats exhibited a physical response (getting ill) as a result of the conditioned association with the drug.

Question 2

In learning theory, the cognitive perspective emphasizes:

Accepted Answer

The cognitive perspective emphasizes the role of mental processes, such as attention, perception, memory, and problem-solving, in learning.

Question 3

A psychological and/or physiological response to what isactually a fake treatment or drug is called:

Accepted Answer

A psychological and/or physiological response to what is actually a fake treatment or drug is called a placebo response or placebo effect. Spontaneous recovery refers to the natural fading away of symptoms without any intervention. An unconditioned response (UCR) is an automatic reaction to a stimulus that requires no learning. An operant response is a learned behavior that is shaped by consequences.

Question 4

Conditioned taste aversions demonstrate:

Accepted Answer

Conditioned taste aversions demonstrate that certain stimuli (in this case, the taste of the food) are easier to associate with negative outcomes (in this case, sickness) than others. This is because our survival depends on quickly learning to avoid potentially harmful substances based on taste. Classical conditioning does not require a short interval between the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus, as taste aversions can develop even hours or days after the initial taste. Therefore, options A, C, and D are incorrect.

Question 5

Your friend Madison became very ill a few hours after eating the fried chicken special in the college cafeteria. Now, Madisonfeels queasy whenever she smells fried chicken. Having read the learning chapter in your psychology class, you explain that:

Accepted Answer

Madison has experienced a learned taste aversion, which can occur after only one pairing of food and illness. Classical conditioning can occur with only one pairing of a conditioned stimulus (in this case, the fried chicken) and an unconditioned stimulus (in this case, illness) if the unconditioned stimulus is strong enough. This can result in a classical conditioning response, such as feeling queasy when smelling fried chicken. Madison's response is not a result of negative reinforcement or latent learning.

Question 6

Ever since she foolishly drank too much beer at a rock concertand vomited all over her boyfriend, Sharon becomes nauseousat the smell or taste of beer. In this example, the conditioned stimulus is _____ and the conditioned response is _____.

Accepted Answer

The conditioned stimulus is the smell or taste of beer, which initially did not cause a response but now elicits the conditioned response of nausea due to the previous pairing with the unconditioned stimulus (drinking too much beer and vomiting).

Question 7

Psychologist John Garcia conditioned rats to have a taste aversion to sweet-tasting water by injecting them with a drugthat made them ill. Using classical conditioning terminology,what was the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) in this experimental situation?

Accepted Answer

The unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is the drug that made the rats ill. It is unconditioned because it naturally and automatically elicits the response of getting sick in the rats. The sweet-tasting water is the conditioned stimulus (CS), and getting ill in response to the sweet-flavored water is the conditioned response (CR), as it is a learned response to the previously neutral CS.

Question 8

Josh, a graduate student in psychology, wishes to use classical conditioning to condition a learned taste aversion in pigeons.Given what you read about biological preparedness in the text,which of the following would be the easiest stimulus to use as his conditioned stimulus?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Josh, a graduate student in psychology, wishes...

Question 9

Rats can most easily be classically conditioned to learn an association between which two stimuli?

Accepted Answer

Rats have a natural aversion to certain tastes and can be easily classically conditioned to associate a taste with physical discomfort or illness. This is known as taste aversion conditioning.

Question 10

From the cognitive perspective, classical conditioning:

Accepted Answer

The cognitive perspective emphasizes the role of mental processes in learning, and in classical conditioning, these processes involve the individual's understanding of the relationship between the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). The information provided by the CS about the UCS is what allows the individual to form an association between the two stimuli.

Question 11

Coyotes who have been fed sheep carcasses that have been laced with a nausea-inducing poison are less likely to prey on sheep in the wild. This phenomenon is best explained by which classical conditioning phenomenon?

Accepted Answer

This phenomenon is best explained by taste aversion learning, which is a type of classical conditioning where an animal learns to associate a certain food taste with illness or nausea. The coyotes associate the taste of sheep carcasses with the nausea-inducing poison, and therefore avoid preying on live sheep in the future.

Question 12

Angela's friend Drew told her that he was thinking about dropping out of college because no matter how hard he studied, he couldn't seem to get his grades above a C average.Angela realized that Drew was experiencing feelings of learned helplessness. What should she advise Drew to do? He should:

Accepted Answer

Advising Drew to break tasks down into smaller, manageable goals and seek information about exactly what was needed to succeed in each class can help him overcome feelings of learned helplessness. This approach focuses on developing strategies for success rather than accepting failure and dropping out.

Question 13

Athletes who believe they have no control over factors that lead to poor performance are less likely to believe they cansucceed in the future and are less likely to persist in the face of failure. This illustrates the phenomenon of:

Accepted Answer

The scenario fits the description of learned helplessness, which is a phenomenon where an individual feels that they have no control over their environment, leading to a decrease in motivation and persistence in the face of challenges. The Premack principle refers to a reward-based behavior modification strategy, the partial reinforcement effect is a phenomenon where behavior is more strongly reinforced when it is only occasionally rewarded, and biological preparedness refers to the idea that certain stimuli are more readily learned than others due to evolutionary factors.

Question 14

In psychologist Robert Rescorla's classical conditioning experiment, one group of rats experienced a tone just beforeeach of 20 shocks. A second group of rats experienced the same number of tone-shock pairings plus an additional 20shocks with no tone. Rescorla found that the rats in the first group showed a much stronger conditioned fear response than the rats in the second group. How did Rescorla explain this finding?

Accepted Answer

Rescorla's explanation for the stronger conditioned fear response in the first group of rats is that the tone was a more reliable predictor of the shock for those rats. This means that the tone consistently signaled the impending shock and allowed the rats to develop a strong association between the two stimuli. In contrast, the second group of rats also received shocks without the tone, which may have made the tone a less reliable predictor of the shock and weakened the association between the two stimuli.

Question 15

In Pavlov's original experiments, dogs were classically conditioned to respond to the ringing of a bell with salivation.According to Robert Rescorla, what had the dogs learned?

Accepted Answer

According to Rescorla, classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus reliably predicts the presentation of an unconditioned stimulus. In Pavlov's experiment, the ringing of the bell (conditioned stimulus) reliably predicted that food would follow (unconditioned stimulus), leading the dogs to learn this association and respond with salivation to the sound of the bell. Therefore, the dogs had learned that the bell was a signal that reliably predicted that food would follow.

Question 16

The evolutionary approach to classical conditioning emphasizes that:

Accepted Answer

The evolutionary approach considers an animal's natural behavior patterns and characteristics when examining classical conditioning, which suggests that an animal's unique characteristics can influence what it is capable of learning. The other options are not supported by the evolutionary approach to classical conditioning.

Question 17

As studies with rats have shown, taste a versions can be produced when the interval between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus is:

Accepted Answer

Studies have shown that taste aversions can be produced even when the interval between the conditioned stimulus (taste) and the unconditioned stimulus (e.g. nausea-inducing drug) is as long as 24 hours. This is known as the long-delay taste aversion conditioning paradigm.

Question 18

Your textbook described a classic experiment by Robert Rescorla that involved two groups of rats. One group of ratsheard a tone just before each of 20 shocks. The second group of rats experienced the same 20 tone-shock pairings, but also experienced an additional 20 shocks that were not paired with a tone. How did the two groups differ?

Accepted Answer

The rats in the first group showed a stronger fear response to the tone because the tone was consistently paired with the shock, while the rats in the second group experienced a less reliable pairing of tone and shock due to the additional shocks that were not paired with the tone. This demonstrates the importance of contingency in classical conditioning.

Question 19

How does the cognitive view of classical conditioning differ from the traditional behavioral perspective?

Accepted Answer

The cognitive view of classical conditioning differs from the traditional behavioral perspective in that it considers mental processes as an important component in the learning process, whereas the traditional perspective focuses only on external events. The cognitive view emphasizes that cognition, anticipation, and expectation play a crucial role in classical conditioning.

Question 20

Katie loves strong coffee and cheerfully admits that she depends on caffeine to help her wake up every day. One morning, her husband served her two cups of decaffeinated coffee without telling her. Nevertheless, she still felt more alert after drinking the decaffeinated coffee. Katie's alertness after drinking decaffeinated coffee is a(n):

Accepted Answer

Katie's dependence on caffeine and her love for strong coffee suggest that she has been classically conditioned to associate the taste and smell of coffee with alertness. Even though the coffee was decaffeinated, the taste and smell of the coffee still triggered her conditioned response of alertness. Therefore, her alertness after drinking decaffeinated coffee is a classically conditioned response to the taste and smell of coffee, and other stimuli associated with it.

Quiz 5: Learning