Chapter 5 Psychology Quiz

Which of the following statements best captures the basic idea of operant conditioning?

Behavior is shaped and maintained by its consequences.

Who discovered the basic process of classical conditioning?

Ivan Pavlov

Behaviorism was an early school or approach to psychology that was founded by:

John B. Watson

Which of the following statements best captures the essence of Thorndike's law of effect?

Rewarded behaviors are more likely to be repeated, while unrewarded behaviors are less likely to be repeated.

Positive reinforcement is to negative reinforcement as:

addition of a reinforcing stimulus is to removal of an aversive stimulus.

Positive reinforcement _____ the likelihood of a behavior's being repeated. Negative reinforcement _____ the likelihood of a behavior's being repeated.

decreases; increases

B. F. Skinner strongly advocated the use of punishment to modify behavior.

false

Negative reinforcement _____ the likelihood of a behavior being repeated, and positive punishment _____ the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

increases; decreases

Punishment is most effective if:

it consistently follows the operant.

An employee wears jeans to work and is reprimanded by his supervisor for dressing inappropriately. From then on, the employee wears a formal suit to work. This is an example of:

positive punishment

After Fernanda buys stock in a ''hot'' new start-up company, the company fails and she loses all of her money. Fernanda no longer invests in start-up companies. This is an example of:

negative punishment

To avoid losing any data on his computer, Tom consistently backs up his computer data to a second hard drive. Using operant conditioning terms, Tom's behavior of backing up his data to a second hard drive is an example of:

negative reinforcement by avoidance.

After she realized that the mosquito had bitten her and her hand was starting to itch, Akai rubbed some cortisone cream on the swollen spot, and the itching stopped. The next time a mosquito bit her, she applied cortisone cream immediately to relieve the itching. Using operant conditioning terms, this is an example of:

negative reinforcement by escape.

Prior to conditioning, a dog does not salivate to the sound of a ringing bell. At this point, the ringing bell is a(n):

neutral stimulus

John B. Watson believed that psychology should focus on the study of:

observable behavior

You make a comment in your workgroup meetings, and a coworker responds with a sarcastic remark. You no longer speak during your workgroup meetings. This is an example of:

positive punishment

Classical conditioning involves _____, while operant conditioning involves _____.

reflexive behaviors; voluntary behaviors

Classical conditioning is to operant conditioning as _____ are to _____.

reflexive, involuntary responses; nonreflexive, voluntary responses

Exposure to uncontrollable aversive events from which you cannot escape can produce passive behavior, called learned helplessness.

true

Psychologists formally define learning as a process that produces a relatively enduring change in behavior as a result of experience.

true

Research on taste aversions demonstrated that classical conditioning can occur with a single pairing.

true

The process of classical conditioning was accidentally discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov who was studying the role of saliva in digestion.

true

Whenever Margaret has personal problems, she confides in two co-workers who listen very attentively and offer her emotional support. The amount of time that Margaret spends discussing her personal problems with co-workers has steadily increased. Positive reinforcement is occurring in this example.

true

You take two aspirin to remove a headache. Thirty minutes later, the headache is gone. You are now more likely to take aspirin to deal with bodily aches and pain in the future. In other words, negative reinforcement by escape has occurred.

true