Chapter 6 General Psychology

_____ was the first to describe classical conditioning.

Ivan Pavlov

In the operant conditioning techniques reinforcement and punishment, what do the terms positive and negative refer to?

Positive refers to a stimulus that is added and negative refers to a stimulus that is removed.

Which option is the most valid criticism of Watson and Rayner's work with "little Albert"?

It would be unethical by today's research standards.

In Pavlov's classical conditioning, the term conditioned is approximately synonymous with the word ________.

learned

Extinction occurs in classical conditioning by repeatedly presenting the _____.

conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus

Molly attempts to condition her puppy to greet her when she enters the house. She repeatedly pairs her entry to the house with a treat for the puppy. The puppy eventually acquires this ability, and Molly realizes how irritating it is for the puppy to run up to her every time she enters the house. She attempts to make the puppy stop, and eventually the puppy no longer feels motivated to greet her when she enters the house. The puppy no longer greeting her when she enters the house is an example of ________.

extinction

Birds migrating, cats chasing prey, sea turtles moving toward the ocean immediately after birth, and a joey (baby kangaroo) moving to its motherâ s pouch immediately after birth are all examples of ________.

instincts

Gabrielle watches her father put batteries into her toy phone, and she is then able to put the batteries into the toy phone herself without further instruction from her father. In this example, Gabrielle's father is a ________.

model

Which of the following is considered to be the conditioned response in Pavlov's experiment with dogs?

salivating/drooling in response to the bell

Sydney is learning how to play pool. At first, her uncle reinforces her for hitting any of the pool balls. Next, he only reinforces her for hitting the pool balls into a pocket. Finally, he only reinforcers her for hitting her own pool balls into a pocket. What operant conditioning technique is Sydney's uncle using to teach her how to play pool?

shaping

Which of the following is an example of a reflex?

the pupil of your eye contracting in the presence of bright light

Which term best describes rewarding successive approximations of a target behavior?

shaping

Debbie's cat, Trixie, will come when called only if Debbie gives her a Temptations salmon treat. Trixie will not come when called for any other treat. This is an example of _____.

stimulus discrimination

When Alex kisses Joanna, her heart rate increases. Alex always wears the same cologne. Now, whenever Joanna smells Alex's cologne, her heart starts to race. In this example, what is the conditioned stimulus?

Alex's cologne

What is the main idea of operant conditioning?

Behavior is motivated by the consequences we receive for the behavior: reinforcements and punishments.

_____ is defined as the gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned (i.e., conditioned) response.

Extinction

Mrs. Collora teaches social studies to junior high school students. Two boys in her class often loudly make jokes about the material being discussed. She has tried several techniques without success: Next, she plans to give students a star for positive classroom participation. Students can exchange five stars to eliminate one question from their homework assignment. This is an example of:

a token economy program.

Which of the following is an example of instinct?

baby turning its head to suckle when its cheek is stroked

Stanley was diagnosed with lymphoma and had to undergo several months of chemotherapy. During this time he would become very nauseated as a side effect, and unintentionally came to associate that nausea with his favorite grilled cheese sandwich. Now, years later, even thinking about a grilled cheese sandwich makes him sick. In this example, Stanley's nauseous reaction to a grilled cheese sandwich is the ________.

conditioned response

The difference between a reinforcer and a punisher is that _____.

reinforcers strengthen behavior and punishers weaken behavior

Vince is failing Chemistry. Halfway through the year, his teacher, Mr. Nye, pairs him up with Lisa. Vince has had a crush on Lisa since the seventh grade and he really wants to impress her. Mr. Nye is shocked; since getting paired up with Lisa, Vince has gotten every question right! Vince is demonstrating _____.

latent learning

Dave's boss told him that he doesn't have to attend the company picnic (which everybody dislikes) if Dave meets his sales quota this month. Dave's boss is using ________.

negative reinforcement

Byron watches as his dad hammers a nail into a piece of wood. Byron picks up his toy hammer and imitates his dad by hammering a plastic nail. Bryon is demonstrating _____.

observational learning

"Little Albert" learned to fear a white rat when it was paired with a loud noise. When "Little Albert" was presented with other similar stimuli that he had not been conditioned to fear, such as a white rabbit or white Santa Claus mask, he would scream and cry just the same. This is an example of _____.

stimulus generalization

You are a big fan of your grandmother's chocolate chip cookies. Just the smell of them causes you to feel hungry. One night she is making chocolate chip oatmeal almond cookies, a variation of her usual recipe. You smell the baking cookies and even though it is different than her usual cookie scent, you still suddenly feel hungry for a treat. This demonstrates the classical conditioning principle of ________.

stimulus generalization