Question 1

You are watching a rat pressing a lever in a Skinner box to obtain food pellets. The rat is pressing the lever at a very high rate, and does not stop, even when a food pellet is delivered. Which type of reinforcement schedule is likely in place in this example?

Accepted Answer

Variable-ratio schedules tend to produce high and steady rates of responding because the reinforcement is based on the number of responses, but unpredictably so. The rat doesn't know which lever press will bring the next food pellet, encouraging continuous pressing.

Question 2

You are watching a rat pressing a lever in a Skinner box to obtain food pellets. The rat pauses for a long time after each food pellet is delivered, but slowly increases its rate of lever pressing as more time elapses. Which reinforcement schedule is likely in place in this example?

Accepted Answer

In a fixed-interval schedule, reinforcement is delivered after a specific amount of time has passed since the last reinforcement. This is consistent with the rat's behavior of pausing for a long time after each food pellet is delivered, and then slowly increasing its rate of lever pressing as more time elapses.

Question 3

What does positive reinforcement involve?

Accepted Answer

Positive reinforcement involves the presentation of a pleasant stimulus, such as praise, to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

Question 4

You are watching a rat pressing a lever in a Skinner box to obtain food pellets. The rat is pressing the lever at a slow, steady rate, but it does not really stop, even when a food pellet is delivered. Which reinforcement schedule is likely in place in this example?

Accepted Answer

In a variable-interval schedule, reinforcement is given after an unpredictable amount of time, leading to a slow, steady rate of response, as seen with the rat pressing the lever.

Question 5

Marie works in a dress factory where she earns $10 for each three dresses she hems. Which type of reinforcement schedule is this?

Accepted Answer

This is a fixed-ratio schedule since Marie earns a fixed amount ($10) for a fixed number of behaviors (hemming three dresses).

Question 6

Josiah checks his email several times throughout the day. Some days there is mail each time he checks; sometimes several days go by with no new messages arriving. How is Josiah's behaviour of checking his email being reinforced in this example?

Accepted Answer

Josiah's behaviour of checking his email is being reinforced on a variable-interval schedule, as the reinforcement (new emails) is given on an unpredictable time interval.

Question 7

Shaquille is a professional basketball player. He never knows for sure which of his shots will result in a basket, but the more shots he takes, the more baskets he makes. How is Shaquille's shooting reinforced in this example?

Accepted Answer

Shaquille's shooting is reinforced on a variable-ratio schedule because he is not rewarded for a set number of shots or a fixed amount of time, but rather for a variable number of successful shots. This type of reinforcement schedule leads to high and consistent rates of behavior, which is reflected in Shaquille's continued attempts to shoot despite the uncertainty of success.

Question 8

Your teenaged daughter has not cleaned her room in a month. You go in and begin yelling at her to clean her room. She begins to clean up, and you stop yelling. How could your daughter's behaviour be described in this situation?

Accepted Answer

The daughter's behavior can be described as escape responding because she begins to clean her room to stop the yelling, which is an aversive stimulus.

Question 9

Raul's parents make certain they thank Raul every time he clears the dishes from the table without being asked. Sadie's parents try to remember to thank Sadie every time she clears the table without being asked, but about half the time they forget. What should you predict based on principles of operant conditioning?

Accepted Answer

According to the principles of operant conditioning, behaviors that are reinforced consistently are more resistant to extinction. Raul's behavior of clearing the table without being asked is reinforced consistently with gratitude from his parents, while Sadie's behavior is only reinforced about half the time. Therefore, it can be predicted that Sadie's table clearing behavior will be more resistant to extinction than Raul's.

Question 10

You are watching a rat pressing a lever in a Skinner box to obtain food pellets. The rat is pressing the lever at a very high rate, but it takes a break from lever pressing each time a food pellet is delivered. What type of schedule was likely used to train the rat?

Accepted Answer

In a fixed-ratio schedule, reinforcement is delivered after a fixed number of responses. The fact that the rat takes a break from lever pressing after each food pellet suggests that it has learned to associate a certain number of lever presses with receiving a food pellet, which is characteristic of a fixed-ratio schedule. Variable-ratio schedules would involve reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses, and variable-interval and fixed-interval schedules would involve reinforcement being delivered after a certain amount of time has elapsed.

Question 11

What should you predict about behaviour on the variable reinforcement schedule, given the same overall frequency of reinforcement on both fixed and variable schedules of reinforcement?

Accepted Answer

Variable reinforcement schedules typically lead to steadier response rates and greater resistance to extinction compared to fixed schedules, as the unpredictability of reinforcement encourages consistent behavior.

Question 12

What does negative reinforcement involve?

Accepted Answer

Negative reinforcement involves the removal of an unpleasant stimulus in order to increase the likelihood of a certain behavior being repeated.

Question 13

Maxwell runs a lawn care service and he charges his clients based on the square footage of their yard, rather than charging an hourly rate for his services. Under which type of reinforcement schedule is Maxwell working?

Accepted Answer

Maxwell is working under a fixed-ratio reinforcement schedule because he gets paid (reinforced) after a specific number of actions are completed, in this case, after servicing a certain amount of square footage, regardless of the time it takes.

Question 14

When is the reinforcer given in a variable-ratio schedule?

Accepted Answer

In a variable-ratio schedule, the reinforcer is given after a variable number of nonreinforced responses. This type of reinforcement schedule is known for producing high and steady rates of responding, as the individual is unsure when the next reinforcement will occur and therefore continues to engage in the behavior.

Question 15

When Skyler was first training his dog, Smooches, to heel he would give Smooches a treat when she stayed close during walks. Now Smooches stays right by Skyler's side, even when she is not on her leash. Which of the following is true, for this situation?

Accepted Answer

The dog treats were positive reinforcers for staying close. By giving Smooches a treat when she stayed close, Skyler was using positive reinforcement to increase the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future. This has led to Smooches staying by Skyler's side even when she is not on her leash.

Question 16

Tessa really likes to play video games on Saturdays, but her parents will let her play video games only if all the dishes are washed. Consequently, every Saturday morning Tessa has the table cleared and all of the dishes washed as soon as everyone has finished breakfast. Which of the following is true in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Playing video games is a positive reinforcer for doing the dishes because Tessa is motivated to complete the task of washing dishes in order to receive the reward of playing video games.

Question 17

Suppose that a subject is shifted from a low fixed ratio schedule (few responses required to earn a reinforcer) to a higher fixed ratio schedule (more responses required to earn a reinforcer). Which of the following is most likely to be the result?

Accepted Answer

When a subject is shifted from a low fixed ratio schedule to a higher fixed ratio schedule, they are likely to increase their overall rate of responding as they strive to earn the reinforcer. This increase in responding is known as a ratio strain, and it can be observed as the subject takes longer pauses between responding in order to recover from the effort that was just made. There is no indication that extinction is likely to occur, and the power of the reinforcer does not change in response to the ratio schedule.

Question 18

Which of the following behaviours would be most difficult to extinguish?

Accepted Answer

A behavior that is reinforced intermittently (i.e. not consistently) is generally more difficult to extinguish because the individual is never certain when the reinforcement will occur, leading them to continue the behavior in the hopes of receiving a reward.

Question 19

The newest winning numbers in the lottery are announced on the local television station every Saturday night, at the end of the news hour. On which reinforcement schedule will people who are watching for the lottery numbers have their "watching" reinforced?

Accepted Answer

The reinforcement schedule for watching the lottery numbers announced at a predictable, set time (every Saturday night at the end of the news hour) is a fixed-interval schedule. This is because the reinforcement (finding out the lottery numbers) occurs after a fixed amount of time has passed.

Question 20

Maarit takes a course in which she is tested every two weeks. Her studying falls off right after a test, followed by a gradual increase to a rapid rate of studying as the next test approaches. On which reinforcement schedule does her studying conform to the typical pattern of responding ?

Accepted Answer

With a fixed-interval reinforcement schedule, the behavior (in this case, studying) is typically low immediately after reinforcement (a test), followed by a gradual increase as the next reinforcement (the next test) approaches. This is consistent with Maarit's studying pattern. The other reinforcement schedules listed (variable-ratio, variable-interval, and fixed-ratio) do not show this particular pattern.

Quiz 6: A: Learning