Question 1

Which of the following is the term in the scientific community that refers to the process Pavlov used in his famous demonstrations of learning?
A) Instrumental conditioning
B) Classical conditioning
C) Operant conditioning
D) Behaviorism

Accepted Answer

Pavlov's famous demonstrations of learning involved classical conditioning, which is the process of learning through association between two stimuli.

Question 2

From his observations of cats escaping from a "puzzle box" to obtain a piece of fish, Thorndike developed a theory that is known as
A) the law of operant conditioning.
B) the law of effect.
C) the law of consequences.
D) the law of association.

Accepted Answer

Thorndike developed the theory of the law of effect, which states that behaviors followed by positive consequences are more likely to be repeated, while behaviors followed by negative consequences are less likely to be repeated.

Question 3

According to B. F. Skinner, we are mistaken when we look to inner causes for our actions because
A) inner mental states have no impact on behavior.
B) we have not identified the cause of behavior.
C) only a few of the most obvious inner states, such as anxiety, can be a cause for our behavior.
D) subjective feelings are the result of our behavior, not the cause.

Accepted Answer

B

Question 4

After a new stimulus-response association is classically conditioned, it must be paired with the old stimulus occasionally or reinforced to avoid
A) second-order conditioning.
B) extinction.
C) stimulus generalization.
D) stimulus discrimination.

Accepted Answer

After classical conditioning, if the new stimulus-response association is not reinforced or paired occasionally with the old stimulus, it will undergo extinction. This means that the conditioned response will gradually weaken and disappear. Therefore, to avoid extinction, the new association needs to be reinforced or occasionally paired with the old stimulus.

Question 5

What did Watson use to explain human behavior?
A) Classical and operant conditioning
B) Traits
C) Observational learning
D) Unconscious motives

Accepted Answer

Watson believed that human behavior could be explained through classical and operant conditioning. He believed that all behavior, including emotions and thinking, could be understood as the result of specific environmental stimuli and responses.

Question 6

Every time a boy visited his grandfather, he would pass a house with a large dog in the yard that would bark and scare the boy. Years later, the boy becomes anxious whenever he visits his grandfather, even though the dog is no longer there. The boy learned to become anxious in this situation through which process?
A) Classical conditioning
B) Operant conditioning
C) Observational learning
D) Punishment

Accepted Answer

The scenario describes a fear response that was learned through association, which is a characteristic of classical conditioning. The boy associated the dog's barking with fear, and this association became so strong that he continued to feel anxious even when the original stimulus (the dog) was no longer present.

Question 7

Researchers sometimes use second-order conditioning. This means that they
A) use operant conditioning to reinforce classically conditioned associations.
B) continue to pair the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli to avoid extinction.
C) use a newly created stimulus-response association as part of a new classical conditioning procedure.
D) begin to reinforce the behavior every other time it is emitted.

Accepted Answer

Second-order conditioning involves using a newly created stimulus-response association as part of a new classical conditioning procedure. This means that a previously neutral stimuli is paired with an already established conditioned stimulus, creating a new association. The new stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus and can cause the conditioned response even when the original unconditioned stimulus is not present.

Question 8

A woman experiences high levels of nervousness right before she is to speak in front of a large audience. She decides she can't go through with the speech. She later tells her husband she could not speak because she was anxious. If her husband were B. F. Skinner, how might he respond?
A) "Your feelings of anxiety indeed caused you to not speak because they acted like a punishment."
B) "The anxiety is unrelated to the change in your behavior."
C) "The change in your behavior and your feelings of anxiety probably have the same aversive contingencies as a common cause."
D) "Anxious feelings do not exist because we cannot observe them."

Accepted Answer

As a behaviorist, Skinner would not acknowledge that the woman's anxiety caused her to not speak as if it were a direct causal relationship. Rather, he would argue that the change in the behavior of not speaking and the feelings of anxiety have a common cause, which might be the aversive contingencies associated with speaking in front of a large audience. The woman might have learned to associate public speaking with negative consequences, such as embarrassment or failure, which activate her anxiety as a signal to avoid that situation. Therefore, Skinner would recommend that addressing the underlying cause of her anxiety, rather than treating it as a separate entity, might lead to a change in her behavior.

Question 9

Operant conditioning would be rather limited if every new situation required learning a new response. However, this is not the case because of
A) generalization.
B) partial reinforcement.
C) second-order conditioning.
D) discrimination.

Accepted Answer

Generalization allows an organism to apply learned responses to similar but new situations, which greatly expands the range of situations in which learning can be applied without having to learn a completely new response.

Question 10

When Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate upon hearing a bell, the bell was the
A) unconditioned stimulus
B) unconditioned response
C) conditioned stimulus
D) conditioned response

Accepted Answer

The bell was a neutral stimulus that became the conditioned stimulus after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus (food) multiple times, leading to the dogs salivating in response to the sound of the bell alone. Therefore, the correct answer is C) conditioned stimulus.

Question 11

Psychologists use shaping because of which limitation of operant conditioning?
A) Punishment does not teach new responses, it only inhibits old ones.
B) Behaviors will extinguish if they are not reinforced occasionally.
C) One must wait for the organism's response before it can be rewarded or punished.
D) Operant procedures condition responses only to very specific stimuli.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Psychologists use shaping because of which limitation...

Question 12

A tennis coach works with players to improve the accuracy of their backhand stroke with successive attempts to produce more hits on target each week of the season. The coach is using a form of conditioning known as
A) stimulus generalization.
B) shaping.
C) punishment.
D) discrimination.

Accepted Answer

Shaping involves gradually improving a behavior by reinforcing successive approximations towards a desired behavior. The coach in this scenario is using this technique by gradually increasing the number of hits on target each week, thus shaping the player's backhand stroke. Stimulus generalization, punishment, and discrimination do not accurately describe the conditioning technique being used.

Question 13

The behavioral approach to personality postulates that personality is
A) the combination of environmental circumstances and unconscious impulses.
B) a function of how we feel about conditions in the environment.
C) the consistent patterns of behavior we engage in.
D) the result of inherited predispositions to behave in certain ways.

Accepted Answer

The behavioral approach to personality emphasizes the consistent patterns of behavior that individuals engage in over time. These patterns are shaped by environmental factors such as rewards and punishments, and can be modified through learning and conditioning experiences. This approach does not address unconscious impulses or genetic predispositions as primary determinants of personality.

Question 14

As a child, Mary always had an unpleasant time whenever she visited her cousins. In addition, most of the times she visited, her aunt would serve meatloaf for dinner. As an adult, Mary hates meatloaf. If her dislike of meatloaf were classically conditioned, the meatloaf would be the
A) unconditioned stimulus.
B) unconditioned response.
C) conditioned response.
D) conditioned stimulus.

Accepted Answer

The meatloaf would be the conditioned stimulus, as it is the previously neutral stimulus that has been paired with the unpleasant experiences during Mary's visits to her cousins.

Question 15

Marlene's desk becomes so messy that on occasion she cannot find an important paper she is looking for. After several incidents in which she suffered the consequences of not finding a paper she needed (such as a homework assignment), she learned to organize and straighten her desk. Marlene learned this new behavior through which operant conditioning procedure?
A) Positive reinforcement
B) Negative reinforcement
C) Punishment
D) Extinction

Accepted Answer

Marlene learned to organize and straighten her desk after suffering the consequences of not finding an important paper. This suggests that her behavior was strengthened by negative reinforcement, as organizing her desk allowed her to avoid the negative consequence of not finding important papers.

Question 16

A teacher places a check mark on the chalkboard next to Henry's name whenever Henry speaks out in class without raising his hand. If he receives three check marks in one day, Henry gets no recess the following day. The teacher is using
A) classical conditioning.
B) operant conditioning.
C) extinction.
D) shaping.

Accepted Answer

The teacher is using operant conditioning, specifically positive punishment, to decrease the likelihood of Henry speaking out in class without raising his hand. The check marks serve as a consequence for the behavior and the removal of recess serves as a punishment, making it less likely that Henry will engage in the behavior in the future.

Question 17

Edward Thorndike observed cats learning to escape from boxes to obtain a piece of fish and derived from these observations the "law of effect." This was an early statement of
A) classical conditioning.
B) operant conditioning.
C) shaping.
D) stimulus generalization.

Accepted Answer

Thorndike's law of effect stated that behaviors followed by positive consequences (rewards) are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors followed by negative consequences (punishments) are less likely to be repeated. This is a basic principle of operant conditioning, which is focused on consequences of behavior.

Question 18

John's mother wants her son to stop crying every time something goes wrong. Following a psychologist's advice, she stops running to comfort John whenever the boy starts crying over some minor incident. After a few weeks, she notices that John cries much less frequently than he used to. This is an example of
A) positive reinforcement.
B) negative reinforcement.
C) punishment.
D) extinction.

Accepted Answer

This scenario describes extinction, as the mother is no longer reinforcing John's crying behavior by running to comfort him. Over time, the behavior (crying) becomes less frequent. It is not an example of positive reinforcement, as there is no addition of a desirable consequence to increase a behavior. It is not an example of negative reinforcement, as there is no removal of an aversive stimulus to increase a behavior. It is not an example of punishment, as there is no addition of an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior.

Question 19

Which procedure might you use if you wanted to decrease the frequency of a response?
A) Negative reinforcement
B) Extinction
C) Generalization
D) Shaping

Accepted Answer

Extinction involves removing the reinforcement that was maintaining a behavior. By removing the reinforcement, the frequency of the behavior should decrease over time.

Question 20

Which of the following was not advocated by John B. Watson?
A) If psychology is to be a science, psychologists must stop examining mental states.
B) Only that which is observable is reasonable subject matter for science.
C) Subjective inner feelings have no place in an objective science.
D) Subjective inner feelings can be studied through scientific methods.

Accepted Answer

John B. Watson believed in behaviorism, which focuses solely on observable behaviors and their relationship to the environment. Therefore, subjective inner feelings were not considered an appropriate subject matter for science. Watson did not advocate for studying subjective inner feelings using scientific methods.

Quiz 13: The Behavioralsocial Learning Approach: Theory, Application, and Assessment

Which of the following is the term in the scientific community that refers to the process Pavlov used in his famous demonstrations of learning?

From his observations of cats escaping from a "puzzle box" to obtain a piece of fish, Thorndike developed a theory that is known as

According to B. F. Skinner, we are mistaken when we look to inner causes for our actions because

After a new stimulus-response association is classically conditioned, it must be paired with the old stimulus occasionally or reinforced to avoid

What did Watson use to explain human behavior?

Researchers sometimes use second-order conditioning. This means that they

A woman experiences high levels of nervousness right before she is to speak in front of a large audience. She decides she can't go through with the speech. She later tells her husband she could not speak because she was anxious. If her husband were B. F. Skinner, how might he respond?

Operant conditioning would be rather limited if every new situation required learning a new response. However, this is not the case because of

When Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate upon hearing a bell, the bell was the

Psychologists use shaping because of which limitation of operant conditioning?

A tennis coach works with players to improve the accuracy of their backhand stroke with successive attempts to produce more hits on target each week of the season. The coach is using a form of conditioning known as

The behavioral approach to personality postulates that personality is

As a child, Mary always had an unpleasant time whenever she visited her cousins. In addition, most of the times she visited, her aunt would serve meatloaf for dinner. As an adult, Mary hates meatloaf. If her dislike of meatloaf were classically conditioned, the meatloaf would be the

A teacher places a check mark on the chalkboard next to Henry's name whenever Henry speaks out in class without raising his hand. If he receives three check marks in one day, Henry gets no recess the following day. The teacher is using

Edward Thorndike observed cats learning to escape from boxes to obtain a piece of fish and derived from these observations the "law of effect." This was an early statement of

Which procedure might you use if you wanted to decrease the frequency of a response?

Which of the following was not advocated by John B. Watson?