Question 1

Last winter, Carmen skidded on the ice and hit another car. This left her with a fear of driving on ice and snow that she finally overcame by the end of the winter. But her fear returned when she had to drive for the first time on the snow this winter. This is an example of

Accepted Answer

This is an example of spontaneous recovery because Carmen overcame her fear of driving on ice and snow by the end of last winter but the fear returned when she had to drive on the snow this winter. Spontaneous recovery refers to the reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time has passed.

Question 2

Following extinction, if a conditioned stimulus is presented at a later time, it may again evoke a conditioned response. This phenomenon is referred to as

Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery refers to the reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction has occurred. Therefore, if a conditioned stimulus is presented again after extinction, and a conditioned response is evoked, it is an example of spontaneous recovery.

Question 3

Ali grew-up in a country where police committed horrible atrocities against civilians. Now, in Canada, when he sees a police officer, he is overcome by a great fear. The fact that Ali is now fearful of all police officers in Canada suggests that

Accepted Answer

Generalization has occurred, as Ali is associating all police officers with the negative experiences he had with police in his home country. He is not discriminating between different police officers or considering any positive experiences he may have had with police in Canada. Extinction would involve the fear gradually decreasing over time with exposure to safe and positive interactions with police, whereas spontaneous recovery would involve the fear returning after a period of apparent decrease.

Question 4

Sirens on police cars, fire trucks and ambulances do not sound exactly alike, but because of ________ we react similarly to them.

Accepted Answer

Generalization refers to the tendency for similar stimuli to elicit similar responses. In this case, sirens on emergency vehicles may not sound exactly the same, but because they share certain similar features (such as a high-pitched, attention-grabbing sound), we tend to react similarly to all of them.

Question 5

Two-year-old Rick was playing with a balloon when it burst and made an extremely loud noise, causing him to cry. Now, whenever Rick sees a balloon, he becomes frightened. In this situation, crying at the loud noise is the

Accepted Answer

Crying in response to the loud noise is an unconditioned response because it is a natural reaction to the stimulus (the loud noise) without prior learning or conditioning.

Question 6

What happens when a conditioned response is extinguished?

Accepted Answer

When a conditioned response is extinguished, the conditioned stimulus no longer signals that the unconditioned stimulus will follow. In other words, the association between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus is weakened or no longer exists. The organism learns that the conditioned stimulus is no longer a reliable predictor of the unconditioned stimulus, and so the conditioned response diminishes or disappears. Choices A and C are incorrect, as they do not accurately describe what happens during extinction. While an inhibitory association may form in some cases, it is not a direct result of the extinction process. Likewise, the association between the unconditioned stimulus and the unconditioned response is not relevant to extinction, as extinction only pertains to conditioning and the formation and breakdown of associations between stimuli and responses.

Question 7

Two-year-old Rick was playing with a balloon when it burst and made an extremely loud noise, causing him to cry. Now, whenever Rick sees a balloon, he becomes frightened. In this situation, the loud noise is the

Accepted Answer

The loud noise is the unconditioned stimulus because it naturally (without prior conditioning) caused Rick to cry, which is an unconditioned response. The fear response to the balloon (conditioned stimulus) developed after the association was made between the balloon and the loud noise.

Question 8

Following conditioning, repeated presentations of the conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus will lead to a reduction and eventually a disappearance of the conditioned response. This phenomenon is referred to as

Accepted Answer

Extinction is the reduction and eventual disappearance of the conditioned response after repeated presentations of the conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus. Spontaneous recovery refers to the reappearance of the conditioned response after a period of time has passed without any further conditioning. Generalization refers to the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus. Acquisition refers to the initial formation of the association between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 9

The tendency of stimuli similar to a conditioned stimulus to evoke the conditioned response is called

Accepted Answer

Generalization is the tendency of stimuli similar to a conditioned stimulus to evoke the conditioned response.

Question 10

Extinction requires which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Extinction in classical conditioning occurs when the conditioned stimulus (CS) is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), leading to a decrease in the conditioned response.

Question 11

Which element in classical conditioning is the signal?

Accepted Answer

The conditioned stimulus is the previously neutral stimulus that becomes associated with the unconditioned stimulus and eventually elicits a conditioned response. In classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus acts as a signal for the upcoming presentation of the unconditioned stimulus, and can eventually elicit the conditioned response on its own.

Question 12

Failure to occasionally pair the conditioned stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus will lead to

Accepted Answer

Failure to occasionally pair the conditioned stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus will result in extinction, as the conditioned response will gradually weaken and eventually disappear.

Question 13

Two-year-old Rick was playing with a balloon when it burst and made an extremely loud noise, causing him to cry. Now, whenever Rick sees a balloon, he becomes frightened. In this situation, the balloon is the

Accepted Answer

The balloon initially had no response (unconditioned), but after pairing with the loud noise, it became the conditioned stimulus that made Rick frightened (conditioned response). The loud noise was the unconditioned stimulus that initially caused Rick to cry (unconditioned response).

Question 14

In order to extinguish a classically conditioned response, you must repeatedly present the ________ without the ________.

Accepted Answer

The correct answer is D because in order to extinguish a classically conditioned response, you must repeatedly present the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus. This will eventually lead to the weakening and disappearance of the conditioned response. Choices A and B are incorrect because they refer to the response rather than the stimulus, and choice C refers to the unconditioned response rather than the conditioned stimulus.

Question 15

What factor listed below did not lead Pavlov to determine that an extinguished conditioned response was not erased or forgotten, but only inhibited?

Accepted Answer

Brain scans indicating a permanent change at the synapses is not a factor Pavlov used; his conclusions were based on behavioral observations, not neurological evidence.

Question 16

Two-year-old Rick was playing with a balloon when it burst and made an extremely loud noise, causing him to cry. Now, whenever Rick sees a balloon, he becomes frightened. In this situation, the fear produced by the sight of the balloon is the

Accepted Answer

The fear produced by the sight of the balloon is the conditioned response. This is because it is a learned response that has been conditioned by the previous experience of the balloon bursting and causing Rick to cry. The balloon bursting was the unconditioned stimulus that produced the unconditioned response of crying. However, after the pairing of the balloon with the loud noise, the balloon became the conditioned stimulus that produced the conditioned response of fear.

Question 17

For years Sylvester the Cat has been fed canned tuna fish that has been opened with an electric can opener. Now Sylvester races into the kitchen every time he hears the can opener. What is the conditioned stimulus in this example?

Accepted Answer

The sound of the can opener has become a conditioned stimulus that elicits a response from Sylvester, causing him to associate the sound with the presentation of the tuna fish. This is an example of classical conditioning.

Question 18

The gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus is called

Accepted Answer

Extinction is the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus. Generalization refers to the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus, discrimination refers to the ability to distinguish between the conditioned stimulus and other similar stimuli, and spontaneous recovery refers to the reappearance of the conditioned response after a period of time has passed since extinction.

Question 19

Little Harold overcame his fear of water after two bullies had held him under the water. Although he swam the rest of the season without noticeable fear, on the first day of swimming the next summer, he began to cry and said he was scared. What had occurred?

Accepted Answer

Little Harold experienced spontaneous recovery, which is the reappearance of an extinguished behavior after a rest period. Despite overcoming his fear of water the previous season, he reverted to feeling scared on the first day of swimming the next summer.

Question 20

The occurrence of spontaneous recovery in classical conditioning shows that

Accepted Answer

The answer of The occurrence of spontaneous recovery in classical...

Quiz 5: Learning