Question 1

Neuroimaging studies have shown that response to a stimulus that signals the absence of shock and does not activate the amygdala is a certain type of stimulus. This is type of stimulus is _.

Accepted Answer

A negative conditioned stimulus signals the absence of an aversive event, such as a shock, and typically does not activate the amygdala, which is involved in processing fear and threat-related stimuli.

Question 2

There are many examples of training animals to assist humans. Police dogs that are used to locate illegal drugs and pigeons that can peck a signal button when they spot an orange life-jacket in the water both demonstrate application of the principles of
________.

Accepted Answer

Operant conditioning involves training animals to perform specific behaviors through rewards or punishments, which is how police dogs and pigeons are trained to assist humans.

Question 3

Which of the following best demonstrates how learned taste aversions can be used to help animals?

Accepted Answer

Learned taste aversions involve associating a specific taste with a negative reaction, such as nausea, to discourage animals from consuming certain items. In this case, the coyote learns to avoid sheep after experiencing nausea from the laced hide.

Question 4

Some individuals appear to develop posttraumatic stress disorder following trauma while others do not. This appears to be associated with:

Accepted Answer

The development of PTSD is associated with a loss of cortical control of the amygdala, which is involved in processing emotions and fear responses. This can lead to heightened fear and anxiety responses following trauma.

Question 5

Which of the following is most related to the concept of instinctual drift?

Accepted Answer

Instinctual drift refers to the tendency of an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors that can interfere with a conditioned response. In this case, the chicken reverted to its instinctual behavior of treating the ball as food, despite being trained to play baseball.

Question 6

Escape conditioning and avoidance conditioning are maintained through:

Accepted Answer

Escape conditioning and avoidance conditioning are maintained through negative reinforcement, where a behavior is strengthened by stopping or avoiding a negative outcome or aversive stimulus.

Question 7

Tracy suffered from severe nausea for the first three months of her pregnancy. In order to make it easier on his wife, her husband used to order Chinese take-out food three or four evenings each week. Tracy knew she had to eat in order to nourish the baby so she forced herself to eat the takeout food. When her child was six years old, he wanted to celebrate his birthday at a Chinese restaurant and Tracy became ill at the thought of eating Chinese food. For Tracy, the Chinese food had become so strongly associated with nausea that the association remained all these years later. This taste aversion is an example of:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Tracy suffered from severe nausea for the...

Question 8

Following the inappropriate pairing of a conditioned stimulus with an aversive unconditioned stimulus, an individual is most likely to develop:

Accepted Answer

A phobia is often developed when a neutral stimulus is paired with an aversive unconditioned stimulus, leading to a conditioned fear response to the previously neutral stimulus.

Question 9

A reinforcement system designed to reinforce desired behaviours that utilizes such items as points or chips that can be redeemed later for tangible rewards is called:

Accepted Answer

A token economy is a reinforcement system that uses tokens or chips as reinforcers for desired behaviors. These tokens can then be redeemed for tangible rewards.

Question 10

You stay inside on very hot days because you don't want to expose yourself to the heat. By doing so, you don't subject yourself to such problems as sunburns or heatstroke. The learning that has taken place for you is most similar to which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Avoidance conditioning involves learning a behavior to prevent an unpleasant or harmful stimulus, such as staying inside to avoid heat-related issues.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about fear conditioning is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

Fear conditioning is not specifically associated with the development of schizophrenia; it is more related to anxiety disorders and PTSD.

Question 12

The text discussed an experiment in which rats were exposed to x-rays that were paired with sweet water, a light, and a buzzer. The x-rays made the rats ill and the researchers wanted to know which stimuli would become associated with the illness. The results revealed that the rats avoided only the sweet water. The findings from this experiment were used to demonstrate the concept of _.

Accepted Answer

The experiment demonstrates the concept of preparedness, which suggests that animals are biologically predisposed to form associations between certain stimuli and responses, such as associating taste with illness.

Question 13

Animals appear to be biologically prewired to easily learn behaviours that are related to their survival as a species because of evolutionary forces. This is referred to as ________.

Accepted Answer

Preparedness refers to the idea that animals are biologically predisposed to learn certain behaviors that enhance their survival due to evolutionary forces.

Question 14

In order to prevent coyotes from killing ranchers' sheep, pieces of sheep flesh have been laced with lithium chloride, a nausea-inducing drug. It is hoped that the coyote will then associate the nausea with the sheep and become less likely to kill them. This applied research capitalizes on the phenomenon of:

Accepted Answer

This research utilizes the concept of preparedness, which is the idea that animals are biologically predisposed to form certain associations more easily than others. In this case, the coyotes are expected to associate the nausea (an unpleasant experience) with eating sheep, thus reducing their likelihood of attacking sheep in the future.

Question 15

Olag has severe symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. It is likely that neuroimaging studies will show:

Accepted Answer

Increased activation of the right amygdala is associated with PTSD, as this region is involved in fear and emotional processing.

Question 16

Pairing the smell of food with a toxin can produce conditioned taste aversions. This is an illustration of the concept of:

Accepted Answer

Preparedness is the concept that certain associations, such as taste and nausea, are more easily learned due to evolutionary adaptations.

Question 17

Snakes, closed spaces, wild animals, and airplanes are common sources of phobias for humans. Why might it be that humans are less often treated for phobias involving rainbows, smiles, or cheerful people?

Accepted Answer

Humans are biologically and cognitively predisposed to develop fears of things that posed threats to our ancestors, such as snakes and wild animals, rather than non-threatening stimuli like rainbows or smiles.

Question 18

When rats receive a shock that is paired with a light, a buzzer, and a sweet tasting food, in the future they tend to avoid the buzzer and the light but will continue to consume the sweet tasting food. This finding best demonstrates the concept of:

Accepted Answer

Preparedness refers to the idea that certain associations are learned more readily than others. Rats are biologically predisposed to associate certain stimuli (like taste) with certain consequences (like illness) more readily than others (like light or sound with shock).

Question 19

A field of study, which is also known as behaviour modification, that combines a behavioural approach with the scientific method in order to solve individual and societal problems is called:

Accepted Answer

Applied behaviour analysis (ABA) is a field of study that uses behavioural techniques and the scientific method to address and solve individual and societal issues, often referred to as behaviour modification.

Question 20

The concept of instinctual drift refers to:

Accepted Answer

Instinctual drift refers to the phenomenon where learned behaviors, particularly those that are conditioned, gradually revert to innate, instinctual behaviors over time.

Quiz 7: Learning and Adaptation: the Role of Experience