Ch 7 Study Plan

Whitney is on the school tennis​ team, in​ choir, and maintaining a B average in school.​ However, she wants to improve her grades to get As and​ Bs, so she decides to use a program of​ self-management to improve her use of time and her study habits. Which of these steps will Whitney not take in the process of developing a​ self-management program?

Behavioral assessment. (It is not a step in developing a​ self-management program.)

You are riding your bike to school. A red minivan suddenly pulls out in front of you and causes you to wipe out on the road. You sprain your wrist and are quite upset.​ Now, whenever you see a red​ minivan, you immediately brake. What is the conditioned response in this​ situation?

Braking the bike. (The response that you have to seeing another red minivan is to brake your bike. As an experienced​ rider, you are frequently on the road with cars.​ However, the presence of a red minivan causes an involuntary change in behavior​ (braking), which is the conditioned response.)

Marcus has always had difficulty with test taking. As he entered the classroom for his biology​ final, he began to shake. This is an example of the principles of

Classical Conditioning (Classical conditioning focuses on the learning of involuntary emotional or psychological responses such as fear or​ salivation, which are automatic responses to stimuli.)

At the end of​ recess, Mrs. Wilson alerts her students to come back inside by blowing a train whistle. As soon as the students hear the train​ whistle, they form a line to come back inside. What is the train whistle in this​ situation?

Conditioned Stimulus (In this​ situation, the students have learned to associate the sound of a train whistle​ (a previously neutral​ stimulus) with the end of recess.)

Which of the following is an example of negative​ reinforcement?

Corinne visits the school nurse complaining of cramps every day that gym activities are scheduled so she will not have to run laps. (Negative reinforcement increases a particular behavior by removing a particular stimulus. In​ Corinne's case, she visits the nurse to avoid gym class. The removal of this unpleasant stimulus​ (gym activities and running​ laps) reinforces the behavior of going to the​ nurse's office.)

Martin works the lights for his high school theater group. One​ day, when climbing a ladder to change a​ bulb, he slips and falls. He is not​ hurt, but the girl he has been trying to impress sees him fall and laughs at him. He feels humiliated. For a week​ afterward, whenever he sees that​ girl, he blushes and leaves the room. A month​ later, he still feels​ nervous, but does not blush. Eventually he overcomes the humiliation and is able to spend time in the same room with her again. What is this​ called?

Extinction. (The unconditioned stimulus is the girl laughing at Martin. The unconditioned response is humiliation. The conditioned stimulus is seeing the girl. The conditioned response is being so embarrassed that he has to leave the room. The conditioned response of acute embarrassment gradually decreases and eventually disappears. This is called extinction.)

Felix is a​ third-grader who moves to a new school district after the first month of school. When he arrives at his new​ third-grade classroom in​ October, they are working on multiplication tables. This is something that he has never done​ before, and he fails the first several quizzes. He is very frustrated because math used to be his favorite subject.​ Now, whenever he sees multiplication tables on a​ test, he becomes anxious. What is the unconditioned response in this​ situation?

Failing at math. (The unconditioned stimulus is failing at​ math, and the unconditioned response is frustration after failure in math. His conditioned stimulus is seeing multiplication​ tables, and his conditioned response is anxiety.)

Which one of the following statements best describes the process of​ extinction?

Gradual decrease of a learned response that is not followed by reinforcement (From the perspective of operant conditioning​ theorists, responses that are no longer followed by either extrinsic or intrinsic reinforcement decrease in frequency.)

Mr. Paulson is teaching his biology class about reproduction in mammals. He has a​ reading-based worksheet for them to fill​ out, and he also has a movie about baby animals for them to watch. He knows they will enjoy the​ movie, because every class has loved it in the past. Which of these strategies would be the best use of the Premack​ principle?

Have the students complete the worksheet​ first, and show the movie as a reward after they finish. (This is an appropriate example of the Premack principle. The students first complete the work they do not want to do and then get a reward in the form of the movie.)

Eddie is sent to​ time-out for throwing an eraser at his friend Lupita. She thought it was funny at the​ time, and she was about to throw an eraser back at Eddie when she saw Eddie being sent to​ time-out. According to social learning​ theory, what is most likely to happen to​ Lupita's future behavior after seeing Eddie being​ punished?

Lupita will not throw​ erasers, because she has learned observationally from​ Eddie's punishment. (According to social learning​ theory, Lupita should learn observationally from​ Eddie's punishment for this behavior.)

Which of the following teachers is best applying principles of classical conditioning in the​ classroom?

Mr.​ Rossi, who recognizes that his students love social media and develops a statistics lesson that allows them to collect data from a social media site. (Mr.​ Rossi's students will associate something they already like​ (using social​ media) with learning and so will develop positive feelings​ (i.e., a conditioned​ response) toward the learning tasks and statistics in general.)

Ms. Carlson teaches kindergarten. On the first​ day, she tells her​ students, "When I blink the lights three​ times, like​ this, you should sit down on your carpet square in the circle​ area, put your hands in your​ lap, and remain quiet.​ Okay, ready?​ Let's try. Here go the lights. Go sit​ down, put your hands in your​ lap, and​ shhhh." What behavioral technique is Ms. Carlson​ using?

Ms. Carlson is pairing a cue with a prompt. (In a short amount of​ time, students in Ms.​ Carlson's class will associate the antecedent behaviorlong dash—blinking lightslong dash—with the prompt to sit quietly in the circle area. She can then simply blink the lights to elicit the behavior from her students.)

Which of the following teachers is using operant conditioning to manage classroom​ behavior?

Ms. Rogers keeps a running total of plusses​ (for good​ behavior) and minuses​ (for bad​ behavior) with her class throughout the day. When they have more plusses than​ minuses, they earn extra recess. When they have more minuses than​ plusses, they lose extra recess. (Operant conditioning requires reinforcers that are contingent upon particular behavior. Ms. Rogers reinforces behavior with plusses and minuses that are then converted into more recess or less recess. This very clearly connects the rewards or lack of rewards with behaviors.)

Ms. Talbot takes away a fun activity from her class because of their inability to follow the classroom rules. Punishment of this sort is known​ as:

Response cost. (Response cost is punishment by loss of reinforcers.)

Priya has several problem behaviors that her​ teacher, Mr.​ Hofstedter, wishes to correct. For​ example, she talks to her friends constantly during​ lessons, and even whispers and giggles to them during quizzes. What should be Mr.​ Hofstedter's approach if he wants to use positive behavioral supports to correct​ Priya's behavior?

See which friends she talks to most and move them away from each other. (Mr. Hofstedter needs to identify the context for​ Priya's misbehavior, modify the situation to make this behavior less​ likely, and reward her for positive behaviors in the new context.)

Mr. Andrulis has two students in his​ seventh-period social studies class who have trouble completing their work on time. Johan is a student with​ ADHD, and he is frequently out of his seat or off task when he should be working independently. Lalaine is a bright student who seems bored with class work. How might Mr. Andrulis best meet both​ students' needs to ensure that they finish their​ schoolwork?

Set up a contigency contract with students independently. (In a contingency contract​ program, the teacher draws up an individual contract with each​ student, describing exactly what the student must do to earn a particular privilege or reward.)

Dr. Jenkins wants to set up a token reinforcement system to encourage her students to keep the classroom tidy and treat one another with respect. When she is just beginning the​ program, how should she provide tokens to her students to encourage maximum effectiveness of the​ system?

She should give tokens fairly continuously for good behavior. (When introducing a token reinforcement​ system, a continuous reinforcement schedule helps students to understand the system and feel motivated. As time goes​ on, an intermittent schedule will be more effective in continuing to motivate students and successfully implement the program.)

Ms. Vasquez divides her class into two teams. If any member of a team acts out or breaks​ rules, the team receives a point. At the end of the​ day, the team with the lowest number of points can leave for recess 5 minutes early. Ms. Vasquez is using

The good behavior game. (Ms. Vasquez is implementing the good behavior​ game, which is an arrangement where the class is divided into teams and each team receives demerit points for breaking​ agreed-upon rules of good behavior. After a prespecified amount of​ time, the team with the fewest demerits receives a reward.)

Ms.​ Tierney, a kindergarten​ teacher, has a group of​ five-year-old students who love to draw. In order to encourage all her students to develop their art​ skills, Ms. Tierney tells the class that for every picture they​ draw, they can pick a sticker or an animal eraser from the class prize box. What is likely to be the outcome of this​ idea?

The students who love to draw already will enjoy drawing less. (Research suggests that providing rewards simply for participating in a behavior that is already intrinsically motivated tends to reduce the enjoyment of that​ behavior, when the rewards are based only on participation.)

If you saw your students engaging in a risky​ behavior, you would want to use the reinforcement schedule with a fast response rate and the greatest​ persistence, so you would use​ a:

Variable-ratio schedule. (If you are interested in fast response and​ persistence, you should use a​ variable-ratio reinforcement schedule with your students. In order to encourage persistence of​ response, variable schedules are most appropriate. A ratio schedule is preferable to an interval schedule because risky behaviors occur sporadically. It is necessary to reinforce each behavior regardless of the interval between behaviors.)

​Bryant, a boy in Mr.​ Kobayashi's fourth-grade​ class, often acts out by throwing things or pestering his classmates. Mr. Kobayashi wants to use functional behavioral assessment to address​ Bryant's behavior. What is the first question Mr. Kobayashi should​ answer?

WHat benefits is Bryant gaining from his actions? (It is important to discover why the student is behaving a certain way in order to provide alternatives.)

Ms. Vendetti wants to praise the students in her class more​ often, because she believes it will motivate them to focus more on their work and will lead to better behavior. What is the best way for her to praise her students in order to achieve these​ goals?

When students appear to be focused on their work and behaving​ appropriately, compliment the whole class or any students who are doing especially well. (If students are reinforced through praise for the behaviors Ms. Vendetti wants to​ promote, those behaviors are likely to increase.)

Maria Escalano and Jack Evans both assign homework every day. Maria collects the homework from students on Tuesdays and​ Thursdays, and Jack collects homework every day. Both teachers score and return the homework the day after collecting it. For the students who are successful in​ Jack's class, this practice best illustrates​ a:

fixed-interval reinforcement schedule. (Jack's homework practice is on a predictable schedule. The student is reinforced when the homework is returned. This is a​ fixed-interval schedule.)

The ABC framework of functional behavioral assessment involves

identifying the antecedents and consequences of misbehaviors. (The ABC framework of functional behavioral assessment refers to ​antecedents, behaviors, and consequenceslong dash—that ​is, the misbehaviors in question and the antecedents and consequences that lead to them.)

Every time LaRita blurts out​ answers, she is required to sit at the back of the classroom for the remainder of the discussion. This is an example of

presentation punishment. (Decreasing the chances that a behavior will occur again by presenting an aversive stimulus following the behavior is presentation punishment.)