Deck 6: Aversive Control of Behavior

Question 1

If wheel running is a higher-frequency operant, then wheel running will ______ drinking; if wheel running is a lower-frequency operant, then wheel running will _____ drinking.

A) Determine; undermine
B) Diminish; exacerbate
C) Reinforce; punish
D) Decrease; increase

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In terms of dropping out, Sidman (2001) indicates that one basic element is:

A) Escape due to a history of inescapable shock
B) Escape due to contingencies of avoidance
C) Escape due to punishment
D) Escape due to negative reinforcement

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Research on the use of skin-shock punishment in treatment of self-injurious behavior:

A) Shows many side effects of punishments
B) Indicates that skin shocks have no effect on non-targeted behavior
C) Found an increase in aggressive and destructive behavior with skin shocks
D) Indicates that skin-shock treatment eliminates the need for physical restraint

Answer 3

D

Question 4

With regard to respondent aggression, Ulrich and Azrin (1962) found that the probability of attack for any single shock:

A) Decreased as the number of shocks went up
B) Increased then decreased as the number of shocks went up
C) Remained constant as the number of shocks went up
D) Increased as the number of shocks went up

Question 5

Consider the following example: "Paige got a ticket for littering. As a result she has to pick up trash along the highway for at least 20 hours." This is an example of _______.

A) Overcorrection
B) Timeout procedure
C) Response cost procedure
D) Negative punishment

Question 6

In Coercion and Its Fallout, Sidman (2001) argues that coercion consists of both:

A) Reinforcement and positive punishment
B) Reinforcement and negative punishment
C) Punishment and positive reinforcement
D) Punishment and negative reinforcement

Question 7

In terms of aversive stimuli, attacks and foul odors are _______ while threats and falling grades are ______.

A) Potent; impotent
B) Natural; secondary
C) Primary; conditioned
D) Primitive; cultured

Question 8

Azrin, Holz, and Hake's (1963) study on punishment and food deprivation in pigeons demonstrated that:

A) The more food deprived the pigeons were, the higher the efficacy of the punisher
B) The more food deprived the pigeons were, the lower the efficacy of the punisher
C) The type of food reward in relation to deprivation changes the efficacy of the punisher
D) The efficacy of the punisher remained constant regardless of the level of deprivation

Question 9

Giving an organism another way to obtain reinforcement will:

A) Make punishment more effective
B) Make punishment less effective
C) Have no effect on punishment
D) Will not be compatible with a schedule of punishment

Question 10

The time between shocks or the ______ interval and the time away from shocks produced by responses or the _____ interval are two aspects of escape and avoidance.

A) Aversive; postponement
B) Shocking; responding
C) Shock-shock; response-shock
D) Temporal shock; response time

Question 11

Which of the following was not identified as a possible behavior principle influencing abused partners to stay in abusive situations?

A) Dynamics outside the relationship punish the alternative behavior of leaving
B) The "honeymoon" period serves as intermittent reinforcement for staying
C) Discriminative stimuli associated with pleasant experiences maintain staying in the relationship
D) Punishment of victim's staying in the relationship by the perpetrator decreases in effectiveness over time

Question 12

Skinner (1953) reported a game played by sailors in the 18th century. The game involved:

A) Each boy was told to hit another boy when he was hit
B) A slight tap on one boy
C) Tying several boys in a ring
D) All of these

Question 13

For learned helplessness, pre-exposure to escape _____ the helplessness brought on by _____ aversive stimulation:

A) Blocks; inescapable
B) Causes; excessive
C) Enhances; noncontingent
D) Augments; expected

Question 14

If an organism emits an alternate behavior, that behavior can be seen as a(n) ____ if it occurs during punishment, and a(n) ____ if it prevents punishment.

A) Respondent behavior; operant behavior
B) Avoidance behavior; escape behavior
C) Operant behavior; respondent behavior
D) Escape behavior; avoidance behavior

Question 15

Azrin, Holz, and Hake (1963) found that when pigeons were shocked with a punisher that increased intensity gradually ______, and when they were shocked with a punisher of moderate intensity ______.

A) The birds increased their speed of response; the birds decreased their speed of response
B) The birds decreased their speed of response; the birds increased their speed of response
C) The birds would continue to respond; the birds quit responding
D) The birds quit responding; the birds would continue to respond

Question 16

Punishers that have to be used repeatedly indicate:

A) That they should be gradually intensified and their use continued
B) That they are ineffective and should be discontinued
C) That they are doing their job and should be continued
D) That while they are effective they should be discontinued

Question 17

The response cost procedure is an example of ______.

A) Negative reinforcement
B) Negative punishment
C) Positive punishment
D) Positive reinforcement

Question 18

The procedure of nondiscriminative avoidance is also called _______.

A) Sidman avoidance
B) Signaled avoidance
C) Sensory aversion
D) Steven's aversion

Question 19

Considering evidence gained by experimental behavior analysis, introducing spanking at a low intensity and gradually increasing intensity:

A) Is an effective approach to reducing the problem behavior
B) Eventually creates a situation where an unreasonable intensity is necessary
C) Is more effective than maintaining a single intensity
D) Is not as effective as maintaining a low intensity

Question 20

In terms of operant-respondent interactions, persistence, and avoidance:

A) Operant avoidance prevents respondent extinction
B) Operant avoidance interacts with respondent aggression
C) Operant avoidance competes with respondent avoidance
D) Operant avoidance sets the occasion for respondent aversion

Question 21

All of the following are limitations to the use of retrospective studies for understanding the relation between childhood physical punishment and adult psychiatric conditions, except:

A) These studies require recall of past events
B) The phrasing of the questions may influence recall
C) This study design does not allow for inferences of causality
D) The study design requires finding people from abusive families with adult psychiatric conditions

Question 22

Which of the following behavioral principles is most likely the explanation for why it is difficult to keep people taking preventative medicines?

A) Learned helplessness
B) Negative punishment
C) Nondiscriminated avoidance
D) Signaled avoidance

Question 23

Berton and colleagues (2006) found that the regulation of avoidance behavior in mice confronted by an aversive social target requires BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) from the:

A) Nucleus accumbens (NAc)
B) Ventral tegmental area (VTA)
C) Amygdala (AMY)
D) Medial prefrontal cortex (MPC)

Question 24

Recent neural studies suggest that learned helplessness techniques may contribute to depression by:

A) Increasing inhibitory synaptic responses in the LHb
B) Decreasing inhibitory synaptic responses in the LHb
C) Increasing excitatory synaptic responses in the LHb
D) Decreasing excitatory synaptic responses in the LHb

Question 25

Contingencies of punishment:

A) Do not teach or correct behavior
B) Encourage production of low-rate behavior
C) Are more effective than reinforcement
D) Teach correct ways to behave

Question 26

When an aversive consequence is delivered to an individual, one possible side effect is that they retaliate in an aggressive manner toward the individual. This type of retaliatory behavior is known as:

A) Reflexive aggression
B) Operant aggression
C) Learned helplessness
D) Social disruption

Question 27

Which of the following outcomes suggests that social exclusion itself is found to trigger aggressive behavior?

A) Insulted participants in a study directed high levels of aversive noise at other participants they thought had socially excluded them.
B) Insulted participants in a study directed high levels of noise at other participants, even when they knew the insult came from someone else.
C) Participants given a general social reinforcer after being insulted lessened the level of the aversive noise used
D) The level of aversive stimulation directed at other participants was high in all conditions, no matter the source of the insult or the availability of social reinforcement.

Question 28

Learned helplessness provides a behavioral explanation for:

A) The aversive control Nazi jailers maintained over their captives
B) The relationship between alcohol dependence and depression
C) Social withdrawal in children whose parents fail to set consistent rules and standards
D) All of the above

Question 29

Drugs that block histone deacetylation (HDAC) have been shown to:

A) Increase retention of CS-tone relationships in fear conditioning
B) Increase freezing (fear) in fear-conditioning contexts
C) Decrease retention in fear-conditioning contexts
D) Decrease freezing (fear) in fear-conditioning contexts

Question 30

Hackenberg and Hineline (1987) gave one group of rats an avoidance period from electric shock before food and one group after food. They found that:

A) Rats respond to long-term aversive consequences in their environment
B) Only the rats below 85% body weight were interested in food after electric shock
C) The avoidance period had no effect after food
D) There was no difference in response based on positive reinforcement being before or after food

Question 31

A real-life example of ______ can be seen in individuals suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder who compulsively wash their hands because they fear exposure to germs.

A) Discriminated reinforcement
B) Nondiscriminated avoidance
C) Nondiscriminated reinforcement
D) Discriminated avoidance

Question 32

For a person that has been stung by a bee, the sound of a buzzing bee serves a dual function. These two functions are:

A) CS⁻ and aversive stimulus
B) CS⁺ and aversive stimulus
C) CS⁻ and an appetitive stimulus
D) CS⁺ and an appetitive stimulus

Question 33

You observe a fly (Drosophila) in a dish moving slowly, frequently resting, and generally appearing "depressed." Which of the following conditions of Yang, Bertolucci, Wolf, and Heisenberg's (2013) experiment was the fly most likely assigned?

A) The fly was presented blasts of hot air with no programmed escape behavior
B) The fly was presented with blasts of hot air with a programmed escape behavior
C) The fly was blasted with hot air any time it began to move
D) The fly was blasted with hot air any time it stopped moving

Question 34

Which of the following learning situations would most likely result in the fastest acquisition of avoidance behavior?

A) Rats required to jump up on a platform to avoid a shock
B) Pigeons required to run down an alley to avoid an electric shock
C) Rats required to press and release a lever to avoid a shock
D) Pigeons required to peck a key to avoid an electric shock

Question 35

Francine is disruptive to the class by talking to the students around her. The classroom teacher asks Francine to move to the far corner of the classroom, away from other students. This is an example of:

A) Social exclusion
B) Overcorrection
C) Exclusion timeout
D) Non-exclusionary timeout

Question 36

Which of the following environmental changes most influences responding during a timeout from avoidance procedure?

A) The stimulus change signaling the onset of the timeout period
B) The reduction in overall frequency of the aversive event
C) The reduction in response effort during the timeout period
D) The increased availability of food during the timeout period

Question 37

As you are walking to class, you hear a classmate yell, "Give me my water, you stupid vending machine!" This is most likely:

A) An extinction burst
B) Extinction-induced aggression
C) Reflexive aggression
D) Due to response cost

Question 38

Chandler is having difficulty finishing a project for class where he teaches a rat to press and release a lever in order to escape an electric shock. Which of the following behaviors do you think is most likely interfering with successful completion of the targeted response?

A) The rat runs rapidly around the cage following a shock.
B) The rat moves to the magazine feeder as soon as a shock is delivered
C) The rat begins grooming immediately after a shock
D) The rat freezes after a shock is delivered

Question 39

Which of the following is true regarding escape and avoidance responses?

A) Animals acquire escape and avoidance responses at the same speed because they are both related through negative reinforcement
B) Animals acquire avoidance responses then escape responses because of negative reinforcement
C) Animals acquire escape responses faster than avoidance responses because the negative reinforcer is immediately absent
D) Animals acquire avoidance responses faster than escape responses because the positive reinforcer is immediately present

Question 40

With regards to epigenetic influences on fear conditioning, HAT enzymes have been found to:

A) Regulate the speed of fear conditioning
B) Regulate the speed of extinction of fear conditioning
C) Regulate long-term remembering of fear conditioning
D) Regulate the aversiveness of fear conditioning