Question 1

When considering animals that are very different from us, insects, for example, most people tend to

Accepted Answer

Insects are very different from humans, and most people tend to discount their mental abilities.

Question 2

A change in behavior resulting from _______ would qualify as an example of learning.

Accepted Answer

Learning is defined as a change in behavior due to experience. Practicing a behavior is a form of experience that leads to learning, unlike fatigue or maturation, which are not based on experience.

Question 3

We need to describe learning as a change in the probability that a certain behavior will occur because learned behaviors

Accepted Answer

Learned behaviors may not be performed every time the opportunity presents itself, indicating a change in the probability of a behavior occurring rather than a guaranteed immediate action.

Question 4

A type of learning in which an animal learns not to respond to a stimulus (or stimuli) is known as

Accepted Answer

Habituation is the process by which an animal becomes accustomed to a stimulus and gradually stops responding to it. This type of learning involves a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure, without any reinforcement or punishment involved.

Question 5

Habituation occurs

Accepted Answer

Habituation is a basic form of learning observed across the animal kingdom, from simple organisms to complex mammals, including humans. It allows animals to disregard repetitive, irrelevant stimuli, thereby conserving energy and focusing attention on novel or significant aspects of their environment. This process is not limited to any specific complexity level of organisms but is a universal mechanism for adapting to their surroundings.

Question 6

In Clark's 1960 research with the clamworm (Nereis pelagica), repeated presentations of a shadow stimulus resulted in a continual decline in the worms' withdrawal escape response. Clark knew that the clamworms had habituated because

Accepted Answer

Clark concluded that the clamworms had habituated to the shadow stimulus because they still responded to a different stimulus (being prodded), indicating that the decline in response was not due to muscle fatigue or sensory adaptation, but rather a psychological process of learning to ignore the repeated, non-threatening stimulus.

Question 7

Habituation is believed to be an adaptive process because it

Accepted Answer

Habituation allows an organism to disregard repetitive, inconsequential stimuli, thereby conserving energy and attention for novel or significant environmental changes. This process does not necessarily make responses quicker (A), keep an individual calm (B), or directly facilitate operant conditioning (C), but it does help in efficiently allocating resources to respond to important stimuli.

Question 8

Habituation may occur within the context of interactions within a species, for example, territorial behavior. Which of the following statements regarding habituation is TRUE?

Accepted Answer

Habituation refers to the process where an animal gradually reduces its response to a stimulus after repeated exposure. In the context of territorial behavior, animals often show decreased aggression towards neighbors they recognize over time (the "dear enemy" phenomenon), while still aggressively defending their territory against unfamiliar intruders. This suggests they can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar individuals, reducing unnecessary energy expenditure on frequent, known neighbors while remaining vigilant against potential new threats.

Question 9

Habituation has proven to be a very useful tool for studying cognitive processes in nonverbal subjects, such as animals and human infants. This is because it allows the experimenter to know if the subject can

Accepted Answer

Habituation is a process where an organism reduces its response to a repeated stimulus over time. It is particularly useful in studying cognitive processes in nonverbal subjects because it can indicate whether the subject can detect differences between two stimuli. If the subject's response diminishes to a familiar stimulus but then increases to a novel stimulus, it suggests the subject can distinguish between the two, indicating a level of cognitive processing.

Question 10

In Pavlov's experiment in which both a bell and meat powder came to elicit salivation, the meat powder is call the _____ and the bell is the _____.

Accepted Answer

In Pavlov's experiment, the meat powder is the unconditioned stimulus because it naturally elicits salivation, and the bell is the conditioned stimulus because it comes to elicit salivation through association with the meat powder.

Question 11

A classically conditioned response is built upon a previously existing response known as a(n)

Accepted Answer

A classically conditioned response is built upon the unconditioned response, which is the natural, unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus.

Question 12

If a CS is presented repeatedly without being re-paired with the UCS the result will be

Accepted Answer

Extinction of the Conditioned Response (CR) occurs when a Conditioned Stimulus (CS) is presented repeatedly without being paired with the Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS), leading to a decrease or cessation of the conditioned response.

Question 13

Karen Hollis (1984) has demonstrated that male blue gouramis (Trichogaster trichopterus) that have been classically conditioned to a signal that predicts an encounter with a rival

Accepted Answer

Classically conditioned male blue gouramis are more successful in aggressive contests and maintain their advantage in later contests, as demonstrated by Karen Hollis.

Question 14

Male blue gouramis (Trichogaster trichopterus) that had been conditioned to associate a light with the imminent appearance of a rival

Accepted Answer

Male blue gouramis conditioned to associate a light with the appearance of a rival would likely display increased aggression or readiness for confrontation, as indicated by delivering more tailbeats than their opponents. This behavior is a form of aggressive posturing or attack in fish, suggesting they are primed for conflict rather than showing signs of submission or reduced aggression (as would be suggested by options A, B, and D).

Question 15

When Karen Hollis (1997) conditioned a male blue gourami (Trichogaster trichopterus) to expect the arrival of a female, the male

Accepted Answer

Conditioning the male blue gourami to expect the arrival of a female made him less aggressive towards her, reducing the likelihood of attacks when she approached. This is consistent with the principles of classical conditioning, where the male's behavior was modified through anticipation of the female's arrival.

Question 16

Male field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) trained to associate distinctive environmental cues with the presence of a male competitor

Accepted Answer

Male field crickets, when trained to associate certain environmental cues with the presence of a competitor, are likely to increase their reproductive investment in response to these cues. Producing larger spermatophores in both the presence of a topographical cue and a scent cue is a strategy to maximize reproductive success when competition is perceived.

Question 17

Takeda (1961) demonstrated that a honey bee would rapidly learn to extend its proboscis in the presence of an odor when the odor is presented in conjunction with sucrose. Extending the proboscis when presented with the odor alone is an example of a(n)

Accepted Answer

This behavior is an example of a Conditioned Response (CR), where the honey bee has learned to associate the odor (Conditioned Stimulus) with the sucrose (Unconditioned Stimulus) and responds to the odor alone by extending its proboscis, even in the absence of sucrose.

Question 18

Which of the following statements about the apparatus known as the Skinner box is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

The Skinner box is designed primarily for operant conditioning experiments where the subject (typically a rat or pigeon) can make a response (like pressing a lever) to obtain a reward (like food) or avoid a punishment (like a mild electric shock). It doesn't specifically allow the subject to escape, which is more characteristic of Thorndike's puzzle box, where animals had to perform a specific action to escape from the box and receive food.

Question 19

Pressing against a horse's ribcage with your legs until he begins to walk forward is an example of

Accepted Answer

Negative reinforcement involves removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior. In this case, the pressure (unpleasant stimulus) is removed when the horse walks forward, thereby increasing the likelihood of the horse walking forward in the future when pressure is applied.

Question 20

Negative reinforcement produces a(n) _____ in response rate.

Accepted Answer

Negative reinforcement increases the response rate by removing or avoiding a negative outcome or stimulus when the desired behavior is performed.

Quiz 5: Learning and Cognition