Question 1

Which of the following is the best example of negative reinforcement?

Accepted Answer

Negative reinforcement involves removing a negative stimulus in order to increase a behavior. In this case, Abby complied with her mother's request to water the plants in order to remove the negative stimulus of her mother constantly reminding her to do so. The other options involve punishment or positive reinforcement, not negative reinforcement.

Question 2

In the Water Kingdom Amusement Park,when two sea lions throw and catch balls on their nose,they are rewarded with fish-mainly herring and salmon-every time after their act.The sea lions have been trained to perform this behavior through _____.

Accepted Answer

Shaping involves reinforcing behaviors that lead to a desired behavior. In this case, the sea lions were rewarded with fish every time they threw and caught balls on their nose, gradually shaping their behavior to perform this act on command. Generalization refers to applying a behavior learned in one context to another context, contiguity refers to the timing of the reinforcement in relation to the behavior, and extinction refers to the gradual decrease in the frequency of a behavior when the reinforcement is removed.

Question 3

The process by which a stimulus or event following a particular behavior increases the probability that the behavior will happen again is called _____.

Accepted Answer

The process described in the question is reinforcement. Reinforcement is a consequence that follows a behavior and increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated in the future. Option A (generalization) refers to the tendency to respond similarly to similar stimuli, option B (extinction) refers to the process of reducing the frequency of a behavior by removing the reinforcement that had been maintaining it, and option D (specialization) is not a relevant term in this context.

Question 4

Classical conditioning helps to explain _____,which refers to the decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations.

Accepted Answer

Classical conditioning is a process in which an organism learns to associate two stimuli, resulting in a change in behavior. Habituation refers to the decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations. This can occur in both animals and humans and is a form of learning. For example, if a loud noise is repeatedly presented to a person, they may become habituated to it and stop responding with a startle reaction.

Question 5

According to Thorndike's law of effect _____.

Accepted Answer

Thorndike's law of effect states that behaviors followed by desirable outcomes are strengthened and behaviors followed by undesirable outcomes are weakened. This implies that consequences play a critical role in shaping behavior. The law of effect also forms the backbone of operant conditioning, which involves associations between behaviors and their consequences.

Question 6

The removal of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to increase the frequency of that behavior is called _____.

Accepted Answer

Negative reinforcement involves removing a stimulus in order to increase the frequency of a behavior. This is different from positive reinforcement, which involves adding a stimulus. Positive and negative punishment both involve adding a stimulus, but with different goals (decreasing behavior in the case of punishment). So the correct answer is A) negative reinforcement.

Question 7

Classical conditioning can produce _____,which is a decrease in the production of antibodies that can lower a person's ability to fight disease.

Accepted Answer

Classical conditioning can lead to immunosuppression, which is a decrease in the production of antibodies. This can lower a person's ability to fight disease.

Question 8

Robert drank too much tequila last night.He spent much of this morning vomiting and nauseated.According to the principles of classical conditioning,how will Robert likely react today when he tastes or smells the tequila bottle that he drank out of last night?

Accepted Answer

According to classical conditioning, Robert will likely associate the scent and taste of tequila with the negative experience of vomiting and feeling nauseated. This means that he will find the scent and taste of tequila aversive and may even feel sick to his stomach at the thought of drinking it again.

Question 9

Which of the following statements about B.F. Skinner is false?

Accepted Answer

Skinner believed that the mechanisms of learning among humans and animals are fundamentally similar, rather than different.

Question 10

While watching television,you can see how advertisers cunningly apply classical conditioning principles to consumers by showing ads that pair something pleasant with a product in hope that you,the viewer,will experience those positive feelings toward the product.In this situation the product is the _____.

Accepted Answer

The product is being paired with something pleasant in the hopes of creating a positive association, which is the basis of classical conditioning. The product is therefore the conditioned stimulus.

Question 11

The presentation of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to increase the frequency of that behavior is called _____.

Accepted Answer

Positive reinforcement is the presentation of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to increase the frequency of that behavior.

Question 12

Which of the following helps to explain drug habituation?

Accepted Answer

Classical conditioning is the process by which an association is formed between a stimulus and a response. In the case of drug habituation, the repeated pairing of the drug with the pleasurable effects it produces can lead to a conditioned response that makes a person crave the drug. This can lead to habituation, where the person needs increasing amounts of the drug to achieve the same pleasurable effect.

Question 13

In operant conditioning,_____.

Accepted Answer

In operant conditioning, the consequences of behavior (reinforcement or punishment) produce a change in the probability of the occurrence of the behavior. This is different from respondent behavior (B) where behavior occurs in automatic response to a stimulus, and classical conditioning (C) where neutral stimuli become associated with unlearned, involuntary responses. D is an incorrect statement as behavior is not a consequence of the CS in operant conditioning.

Question 14

_____ refers to rewarding approximations of a desired behavior.

Accepted Answer

Shaping refers to the process of selectively reinforcing behaviors that are increasingly similar to a desired behavior, leading to the development or shaping of the desired behavior. This involves rewarding approximations of the desired behavior until the final target behavior is achieved.

Question 15

Which of the following is more effective in explaining voluntary behaviors?

Accepted Answer

Operant conditioning focuses on how voluntary behaviors are shaped by the consequences (rewards or punishments) that follow them. This approach is more effective in explaining voluntary behaviors than the other options listed. Discovery learning and latent learning are more relevant to understanding how people acquire knowledge and skills through experience, while classical conditioning is more relevant to explaining automatic or reflexive behaviors.

Question 16

Some bears kept in the zoo allow veterinarians to routinely give them total body checkups.These bears open their mouths for teeth cleaning and present their paws for nail clipping.Your friend wonders how anyone could ever get these dangerous animals to be so cooperative without anesthesia.You,however,a psychology student,quickly surmise that the bears had undergone _____.

Accepted Answer

The bears have likely undergone operant conditioning, in which they have learned that certain behaviors (such as presenting their paws for nail clipping) result in a reward (such as treats or positive reinforcement from their handlers). Over time, consistent positive reinforcement has trained the bears to repeat these behaviors willingly, without the need for anesthesia.

Question 17

Taste aversion is an example of _____.

Accepted Answer

Taste aversion is a type of classical conditioning where an unpleasant or nauseating stimulus is associated with a particular taste or food, leading to a learned aversion to that food. This is also known as the Garcia effect. Immunossuppression refers to a decrease in the immune response, observational learning involves learning by observing others, and counterconditioning is a technique used to change behavior by pairing a positive stimulus with a negative one.

Question 18

_____ is a form of treatment that involves repeated pairings of a stimulus with a very unpleasant stimulus.

Accepted Answer

Aversive conditioning involves pairing a stimulus with an unpleasant stimulus to reduce the likelihood of a certain behavior occurring again in the future. It is often used in therapy to break negative habits or addictions. The other options are not related to this particular form of treatment.

Question 19

Leonard is addicted to heroin,but is very careful about overdosing.He always uses a specific amount and takes it only in his apartment.This Friday,he got desperate for the drug while visiting a friend.This was the first time he used heroin outside his own apartment.He injected his normal "safe" dose of heroin but almost died of an overdose.According to the principles of classical conditioning what led to Leonard's condition?

Accepted Answer

This is an example of stimulus discrimination, where Leonard's body had become accustomed to the drug in his specific environment and was unable to handle it in a new environment. This is due to the fact that classical conditioning involves the development of associations between stimuli and responses, and in this case, the context is a significant stimulus that has been associated with the drug use. Leonard's body was conditioned to respond to the drug in a specific environment, but it did not have the chance to develop that association in his friend's environment, leading to the overdose.

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of negative reinforcement?

Accepted Answer

Negative reinforcement involves the removal of an aversive stimulus in order to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. In this case, waking up before the alarm goes off removes the aversive sound of the alarm, thus increasing the likelihood of waking up before the alarm in the future. The other options do not involve the removal of an aversive stimulus.

Quiz 5: Learning