Question 1

The best evidence that animals develop cognitive maps comes from studies of

Accepted Answer

Latent learning experiments have provided evidence that animals can develop cognitive maps. In these studies, animals are allowed to explore a new environment without any reward or reinforcement. Later, when a reward is introduced, the animals are able to navigate to it more efficiently than animals who did not have the opportunity to explore the environment without a reward. This suggests that the animals had developed a mental map of the environment during their initial exploration.

Question 2

Pigs trained to pick up large wooden coins subsequently delayed receiving a food reinforcer because they would repeatedly drop and push the coins with their snouts. This best illustrates

Accepted Answer

The behavior of the pigs pushing and dropping the coins is an example of instinctive drift, which occurs when an animal's innate behaviors interfere with a learned behavior. The pigs, by instinct, use their snouts to root around for food, so their natural behavior interferes with the learned behavior of picking up the coins.

Question 3

Animals most readily learn the specific associations that promote

Accepted Answer

Animals learn associations that promote their survival, such as how to find food or avoid predators. Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations towards a desired behavior, extrinsic motivation refers to external rewards or punishments, and prosocial behavior refers to actions that benefit others in a social group.

Question 4

Garcia and Koelling's findings on taste aversion in rats challenged the previously accepted principle that

Accepted Answer

Garcia and Koelling's findings challenged the previously accepted principle that the US must immediately follow the CS for conditioning to occur. They found that taste aversion in rats could occur even if the US (nausea-inducing agent) was administered several hours after the CS (taste of flavored water). This demonstrated that the timing between the CS and US was not as critical as previously believed.

Question 5

Evidence that organisms are biologically predisposed to learn the associations that most readily aid their survival has been provided by

Accepted Answer

Garcia and Koelling's study of taste aversion in rats demonstrated that rats were more likely to form an association between a taste and illness than between a noise and illness, suggesting that they are biologically predisposed to learn certain associations that aid their survival. This supports the concept of biological preparedness in learning. The other studies listed may have important implications for learning, but they do not directly provide evidence for biological predisposition.

Question 6

Pigeons learn to flap their wings to avoid shock ________ easily than they learn to peck a disk to avoid shock. They learn to flap their wings to obtain food ________ easily than they learn to peck a disk to obtain food.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Pigeons learn to flap their wings to...

Question 7

A CS for sexual arousal is ecologically relevant if it is similar to stimuli associated with sexual activity in an organism's

Accepted Answer

Ecologically relevant CSs are those that are similar to the stimuli that an organism would encounter in its natural environment. In this case, the relevant environment is the one in which sexual behavior occurs, making choice B (natural environment) the most appropriate option.

Question 8

Birds appear to be biologically predisposed to develop aversions to the ________ of tainted food.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Birds appear to be biologically predisposed to...

Question 9

Some psychologists believe that rats developmental representations of mazes they have explored. These representations are called

Accepted Answer

Cognitive maps are a type of mental representation that animals, including rats, use to navigate their environment. These maps allow animals to create an internal model or layout of the physical space they have explored, which they can then use to plan and execute future movements. This ability to form cognitive maps is thought to rely on the brain's hippocampus and other related structures.

Question 10

Latent learning can occur in the absence of

Accepted Answer

Latent learning is defined as learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement. It suggests that organisms can learn without necessarily exhibiting that learning until an appropriate motivator is presented. Therefore, option A is the correct answer. The other options are incorrect as cognition and experience are necessary for learning to occur, but they are not the defining factors for latent learning.

Question 11

Elijah has learned to expect that whenever he studies diligently for tests, he will receive good grades. This suggests that associative learning involves

Accepted Answer

Associative learning involves cognitive processes, as it requires the individual to make connections between their actions (studying diligently) and the outcomes (receiving good grades).

Question 12

Classical conditioning occurs most rapidly when the learner perceives the ________ to cause the ________.

Accepted Answer

Classical conditioning occurs most rapidly when the learner perceives the CS to cause the US. This is because the CS signals the impending arrival of the US, which helps to establish a strong association between the two. In this way, the CS comes to elicit the same response as the US (i.e. the CR). The other choices are incorrect because they either involve already established associations (UR and CR) or do not correspond with the order of conditioning (US causing UR).

Question 13

After repeatedly drinking alcohol spiked with a nauseating drug, people with alcohol use disorder may fail to develop an aversion to alcohol because they blame their nausea on the drug. This illustrates the importance of ________ in classical conditioning.

Accepted Answer

Cognitive processes play a role in classical conditioning, as our thoughts and beliefs about the conditioned stimulus can impact our response. In this case, people with alcohol use disorder may attribute their nausea to the drug rather than the alcohol, which could prevent the development of an aversion to alcohol.

Question 14

It is easier to train a dog to bark for food than to train it to stand on its hind legs for food. This best illustrates the importance of ________ in learning.

Accepted Answer

This question is asking about the role of biological predispositions in learning. Biological predispositions refer to the innate tendencies or abilities that an organism has, which can either facilitate or hinder its ability to learn certain behaviors. In this case, the fact that it is easier to train a dog to bark for food than to stand on its hind legs suggests that there are biological predispositions that make it easier for dogs to learn certain behaviors over others. The answer is not A (primary reinforcement) because this term refers to the process by which a behavior is strengthened by the addition of a desirable outcome or consequence (such as a treat). It is not B (generalization) because this term refers to the tendency to apply a learned behavior or response to similar stimuli or situations. It is not D (negative reinforcement) because this term refers to the process by which a behavior is strengthened by the removal or avoidance of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus (such as stopping a loud noise when a behavior is performed).

Question 15

Research on the role of cognitive processes in learning indicates that the strength of a conditioned response depends primarily on the ________ of the CS-US association.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that the predictability of the CS-US association is the primary factor determining the strength of a conditioned response. When the CS reliably predicts the onset of the US, the association is stronger and the conditioning is more effective. Frequency, distinctiveness, and duration can also play a role in conditioning, but their effects are generally less powerful than predictability.

Question 16

If a shock is always preceded by a tone, and then sometimes also is preceded by a light that accompanies the tone, a rat will react

Accepted Answer

The rat will associate the tone with the shock and therefore react with fear to the tone. However, if the light is only sometimes paired with the shock, the association between the light and shock will not be as strong, and the rat may not react with fear to the light. Thus, the rat is likely to react with fear to the tone but not to the light.

Question 17

Which of the following has helped prevent coyotes and wolves from attacking sheep?

Accepted Answer

Conditioned taste aversion involves associating a particular taste with feeling ill or nauseous, resulting in an avoidance of that taste in the future. This technique has been used to deter predators such as coyotes and wolves from attacking sheep by coating the sheep with a substance that tastes bad and causes the predator to associate the taste with feeling unwell. This ultimately prevents future attacks as the predator learns to avoid attacking anything with that particular taste.

Question 18

Professor Kingston emphasizes that learned fears reflect the interacting influences of a person's inborn emotional reactivity, family life history, and capacity to generalize from previous experiences. The professor's emphasis best illustrates

Accepted Answer

The professor's emphasis on the interacting influences of biology, psychology, and social factors (family life history) exemplifies a biopsychosocial approach, which recognizes that psychological phenomena cannot be understood solely by focusing on any one of these factors in isolation.

Question 19

The speed with which people learn associations between the color red and sexuality suggests that classical conditioning is influenced by

Accepted Answer

The speed at which people learn associations between the color red and sexuality suggests that there may be a biological predisposition to associate certain stimuli with certain behaviors or responses. Classical conditioning involves learning associations between stimuli and responses, and if there is a natural or innate tendency to make certain associations, this could influence the speed of learning.

Question 20

Many psychologists have criticized Skinner for discounting the influence of ________ on behavior.

Accepted Answer

Skinner's behaviorism focuses solely on observable behaviors and external environmental influences, disregarding the potential impact of internal mental processes such as thoughts, emotions, and motivations. Therefore, many psychologists criticize Skinner for discounting the influence of private thought processes on behavior.

Quiz 22: A: Effects of Biology and Cognition