Question 1

Baby Quinn's attention to a song on an iPod decreased after her mother played it several times. When her mother played a different song, Quinn's attention increased. This is an example of
A) recovery.
B) classical conditioning.
C) habituation.
D) operant conditioning.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Baby Quinn's attention to a song on...

Question 2

Research using the technique of attaching a baby's foot to a mobile with a long cord revealed that __________ babies remember how to activate the mobile for two weeks after training.
A) newborn
B) 2-month-old
C) 3-month-old
D) 6-month-old

Accepted Answer

The answer of Research using the technique of attaching a...

Question 3

Which of the following statements is true regarding mirror neurons?
A) Brain-imaging studies confirm that human adults have especially elaborate systems of mirror neurons.
B) Mirror neurons do not appear until visual acuity is fully developed.
C) Mirror neurons undergo a short period of development during infancy.
D) Mirror neurons develop at the same rate as the development of the child's self-image and ego.

Accepted Answer

Mirror neurons are a type of brain cell that respond equally when we perform an action and when we witness someone else perform the same action, suggesting a role in learning through imitation and understanding others' actions. Brain-imaging studies have indeed confirmed that human adults possess elaborate systems of mirror neurons, supporting their involvement in complex processes such as empathy, learning by observation, and understanding the intentions of others.

Question 4

A baby who first habituates to a green circle and then recovers to a blue circle
A) does not remember the green circle.
B) perceives both stimuli as identical.
C) prefers the green circle.
D) can distinguish between green and blue.

Accepted Answer

Habituation and recovery are evidence that the baby can perceive and distinguish between the two stimuli. Therefore, the baby can distinguish between green and blue.

Question 5

Which of the following statements is true about learning using habituation versus operant conditioning?
A) In operant conditioning studies, infants retain certain information over much longer time spans than they do in habituation research.
B) Although habituation research tells us more about infant perceptual and cognitive capacities than operant conditioning, its findings are not clear-cut.
C) Operant conditioning studies reveals more about infant perceptual and cognitive capacities than habituation research.
D) Operant conditioning studies are a more reliable predictor of later intelligence than habituation and recovery.

Accepted Answer

Habituation research tells us more about infant perceptual and cognitive capacities than operant conditioning, but its findings are not clear-cut.

Question 6

Studies of familiarity preference show that infants
A) look longer at the features of a familiar person than the action in which the person is engaged.
B) are better at discriminating faces in static displays than in moving displays.
C) retain information much longer in operant conditioning studies than in habituation studies.
D) look longer at a familiar action than the features of the person engaging in the action.

Accepted Answer

Infants tend to show a preference for familiar actions over the features of the person performing the action, indicating a focus on the action itself.

Question 7

Sam presents a conditioned stimulus alone enough times, without pairing it with the unconditioned stimulus, that the conditioned response no longer occurs. Sam is demonstrating
A) reinforcement.
B) punishment.
C) extinction.
D) a novelty preference.

Accepted Answer

This scenario describes the process of extinction, which occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus, resulting in the eventual disappearance of the conditioned response. Reinforcement and punishment involve the use of consequences to increase or decrease behavior, respectively, and are not relevant to this scenario. A novelty preference refers to a preference for novel or new stimuli, and is not applicable here.

Question 8

According to Andrew Meltzoff, newborns
A) do not actually imitate; their responses are actually mouthing.
B) have an automatic imitative capacity that declines with age.
C) imitate much as older children and adults do.
D) cannot yet imitate facial expressions.

Accepted Answer

Andrew Meltzoff's research has shown that newborns can imitate gestures and facial expressions, indicating that they imitate in a manner similar to older children and adults.

Question 9

A study conducted by Rovee-Collier using a mobile attached to a baby's foot showed that after 2- to 6-month-olds forget an operant response,
A) they need only a brief prompt to reinstate the memory.
B) they have to relearn the skill using classical conditioning.
C) their memory returns but diminishes dramatically.
D) they have to relearn the skill using habituation.

Accepted Answer

Rovee-Collier's study found that after infants forgot an operant response, they only needed a brief prompt to reinstate the memory. This suggests that the memory trace remains intact but becomes inaccessible, and can be reactivated with a reminder.

Question 10

Which of the following statements is true regarding habituation and recovery in babies?
A) Newborn babies habituate and recover faster than 4-month-old babies.
B) Habituation to an auditory stimulus is evident in the third trimester of pregnancy.
C) Habituation and recovery are not mastered until the second half of the first year.
D) Newborns' attention spans are nonexistent; thus, they cannot habituate and recover.

Accepted Answer

Habituation to an auditory stimulus can indeed be observed in the third trimester of pregnancy, indicating that even before birth, babies are capable of this basic form of learning and memory. This shows their ability to become accustomed to repeated stimuli and to respond anew when a novel stimulus is introduced.

Question 11

Each time Baby Masha sucks on her bottle, she receives a sweet-tasting liquid. When baby Masha sucks on a pacifier, she is met with a sour taste, which causes her to purse her lips and stop sucking entirely. The sour taste is a(n)
A) unconditioned response.
B) conditioned response.
C) reinforcer.
D) punisher.

Accepted Answer

The sour taste acts as a punisher because it decreases the likelihood that Masha will continue sucking on the pacifier, which is an example of negative punishment in behavioral terms.

Question 12

In __________, infants act on the environment, and stimuli that follow their behavior change the probability that the behavior will occur again.
A) classical conditioning
B) operant conditioning
C) habituation
D) recovery

Accepted Answer

The description provided fits the principles of operant conditioning, in which an individual's behavior is influenced by the consequences that follow it. In this case, the infant's behavior towards the environment is followed by stimuli that either increase or decrease the likelihood of that behavior occurring again. Classical conditioning involves the pairing of a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that naturally elicits a response, leading to the neutral stimulus also eliciting a response. Habituation refers to a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure, and recovery refers to the return of a response after a period of habituation or extinction.

Question 13

When baby Raj's mom first started carrying an on-call beeper, Raj was easily awakened by the sound of it going off. After several nights, Raj's sleep was not disturbed by the beeping. This is an example of
A) recovery.
B) operant conditioning.
C) habituation.
D) classical conditioning.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of habituation, which is the process of becoming accustomed to a stimulus and eventually becoming less responsive to it with repeated exposure.

Question 14

Habituation and recovery make learning more efficient by
A) helping us anticipate what event is about to happen next.
B) focusing our attention on those aspects of the environment we know least about.
C) helping us generalize newly learned behaviors to unfamiliar contexts.
D) influencing the occurrence of stimulus events in the environment.

Accepted Answer

Habituation allows us to ignore repeated, irrelevant stimuli, thereby focusing our attention and cognitive resources on novel or changing aspects of the environment. This makes learning more efficient by directing our attention to new information that we have not yet learned about, rather than wasting resources on familiar, unchanging stimuli.

Question 15

Which of the following babies will most likely take the longest time to habituate to novel visual forms?
A) Aaron, a newborn
B) Jared, a 2-month-old
C) Virginia, a 4-month-old
D) Olivia, a 5-month-old

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following babies will most...

Question 16

__________ is strongly associated with 9-month-olds' formation of an increasingly context-free memory.
A) Food
B) Talking
C) Punishment
D) Crawling

Accepted Answer

Crawling is strongly associated with 9-month-olds' formation of an increasingly context-free memory because it allows infants to explore their environment more actively, which in turn supports the development of spatial and object memory.

Question 17

Sweet liquid increases the occurrence of the sucking response in baby Basil. Sweet liquid is a(n)
A) punisher.
B) conditioned response.
C) reinforcer.
D) unconditioned response.

Accepted Answer

Sweet liquid serves as a reinforcer as it increases the occurrence of the sucking response in baby Basil. Reinforcers are stimuli that increase the likelihood of a behavior occurring again in the future.

Question 18

At first, infants' memory for operant responses is
A) nonexistent.
B) highly context dependent.
C) context-free.
D) inconsistent.

Accepted Answer

Infants' memory for operant responses is highly context dependent, meaning their ability to remember and replicate behaviors is strongly influenced by the environment or context in which the original learning occurred.

Question 19

Habituation studies test
A) recall memory.
B) imitation.
C) operant responses.
D) recognition memory.

Accepted Answer

Habituation studies test recognition memory by measuring how an individual's response to a stimulus decreases over time with repeated exposure, indicating that they recognize the stimulus.

Question 20

__________ is/are among the earliest available predictors of intelligence in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.
A) Classical conditioning
B) Operant conditioning
C) Habituation and recovery to visual stimuli
D) Imitation

Accepted Answer

Habituation and recovery to visual stimuli refer to an infant's ability to focus and recognize patterns, which has been linked to intelligence. This skill can be tested as early as a few months old and has been shown to be a reliable predictor of intelligence later in life. Option A (classical conditioning), B (operant conditioning), and D (imitation) are not consistently linked to intelligence and are not considered early predictors of intelligence.

Quiz 4: Infancy: Early Learning, Motor Skills, and Perceptual Capacities

Baby Quinn's attention to a song on an iPod decreased after her mother played it several times. When her mother played a different song, Quinn's attention increased. This is an example of

Research using the technique of attaching a baby's foot to a mobile with a long cord revealed that __________ babies remember how to activate the mobile for two weeks after training.

Which of the following statements is true regarding mirror neurons?

A baby who first habituates to a green circle and then recovers to a blue circle

Which of the following statements is true about learning using habituation versus operant conditioning?

Studies of familiarity preference show that infants

Sam presents a conditioned stimulus alone enough times, without pairing it with the unconditioned stimulus, that the conditioned response no longer occurs. Sam is demonstrating

According to Andrew Meltzoff, newborns

A study conducted by Rovee-Collier using a mobile attached to a baby's foot showed that after 2- to 6-month-olds forget an operant response,

Which of the following statements is true regarding habituation and recovery in babies?

Each time Baby Masha sucks on her bottle, she receives a sweet-tasting liquid. When baby Masha sucks on a pacifier, she is met with a sour taste, which causes her to purse her lips and stop sucking entirely. The sour taste is a(n)

In __________, infants act on the environment, and stimuli that follow their behavior change the probability that the behavior will occur again.

When baby Raj's mom first started carrying an on-call beeper, Raj was easily awakened by the sound of it going off. After several nights, Raj's sleep was not disturbed by the beeping. This is an example of

Habituation and recovery make learning more efficient by

Which of the following babies will most likely take the longest time to habituate to novel visual forms?

__________ is strongly associated with 9-month-olds' formation of an increasingly context-free memory.

Sweet liquid increases the occurrence of the sucking response in baby Basil. Sweet liquid is a(n)

At first, infants' memory for operant responses is

Habituation studies test

__________ is/are among the earliest available predictors of intelligence in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.