Psychology Exam 3

Which of the following is an example of instinctive drift?

A circus performer is training tigers to jump through a hoop by using tiny bits of meat as reinforcers. After awhile, however, the tiger started to "stalk" and pounce on the hoop rather than jump through it.

Which of the following is an example of a fixed action pattern?

A joey (baby kangaroo) finds its way to its mother's pouch and attaches to a nipple.

In the classic taste aversion experiment by Garcia, rats learned to avoid ___________________ if they were made ill later on, and they learned to avoid ____________________ if they were shocked right after it was presented, but they were unable to learn the opposite associations.

A particular taste : a clicking sound and flash of light

Which of the following accurately describes learning as defined in this class?

A relatively permanent change in behavior based on an individual's experience.

What's a meme?

A unit of culture that is transmitted from person to person.

Which of the following accurately describes Thorndike's Law of Effect?

Behavior leads to consequences (individuals can be "satisfied" or "annoyed"), which then affects the likelihood of the behavior happening again in the future.

While growing up, you spent many pleasant days with your grandmother, working in her garden. Now, while sitting in math class, you catch a brief smell of the same flowers that your grandmother had in her garden during the time you spent with her. You find yourself feeing "warm and fuzzy" as a result of smelling the flowers. Is this an example of classical or operant conditioning?

Classical

What's the name of the little device you can use to train your dog to perform a behavior it's never performed before?

Clicker

You want to condition your dog to salivate to a bell, just like Pavlov did. A couple of times a day, you ring a bell, and give your dog a treat. A month later when you ring the bell by itself, your dog doesn't salivate like you predicted he would. What you didn't know is that while you were out of the house, your roommate has been ringing the bell all by itself. Your roommate was also randomly giving your dog treats throughout the day. So most of the time the dog heard the bell, there was no food associated with it, and the dog sometimes got food without hearing the bell. The reason the dog didn't condition in this case was because there was a lack of _____________________.

Contingency

One way of getting over a phobia is to pair the thing that is feared with something a person finds pleasant. For example, if a little boy loves dogs but is scared to ride in the car, gradually pair car rides (first sitting in the car, then going down the driveway, then just going up the street etc.) with a friendly dog. This is an example of:

Counterconditioning

Even though your dog initially got excited about every doorbell it heard on television (see the previous question), after hearing enough different types of doorbells on television, she has learned only to become excited at the very specific doorbell sound that means that someone is at your door. This is an example of:

Discrimination

You decide you want to clicker train your dog, and the first step is making a clicking sound with a clicker, and giving your dog a bit of food at the same time. After a number of these clicker/treat pairings, your dog salivates a little after just hearing the clicking sound. Then your niece comes over and plays with the clicker within hearing range of your dog without giving your dog a treat. At first, your dog salivates a little when he hears the clicker, but after a whole day of hearing the clicker and not getting a treat, your dog no longer salivates. This is an example of:

Extinction

Of the four main types of reinforcement, which type tends to lead to a typical "scalloped" shape of the graph of responding? In other words, responding is rapid near the time of reinforcement, but drops off significantly right after reinforcement.

Fixed interval

A rat receives a food pellet after pressing a bar exactly 15 times. What type of schedule of reinforcement does this represent?

Fixed ratio

Which schedule of reinforcement is common with workers that get paid after they produce "X" number of things? (note that "X" is always the same number)

Fixed ratio

Your dog really enjoys having visitors over, and as such, she has learned through classical conditioning to become excited whenever the doorbell rings. One evening, a similar, though not identical doorbell ring came from the television. Even though it was NOT the exact same bell, your dog became excited anyway. This is an example of:

Generalization

When you first move into a dormitory at your university, you notice the buzzing sound from the overhead lights. After being in your room for a few hours, you no longer notice the buzzing. This is an example of:

Habituation

In your house, you like to ring a little dinner bell to let all your animals (several dogs and several cats) know that it's dinnertime. Not surprisingly, your animals have come to associate the bell with food, and now get a little excited and salivate when they hear the bell. Recently, you joined a band, and one of the songs you play incorporates your pets' dinner bell. The dinner bell is always paired with the sound of a triangle being struck in the song your practice over and over again in the house (notice that no food is given when the bell is paired with the triangle). As a result of the association between the triangle and the bell, your group of animals now becomes excited when they hear the triangle, even though the triangle was never directly paired with food for them. This is an example of:

Higher-order conditioning

A cat in the house next door to you is used to getting fed at many times of day. Many different stimuli indicate to the cat that she's about to get food (e.g. when her owner is making coffee, when her owner sits down to watch television, when her owner first gets home from being out), and she gets excited when these things occur. However, the cat has never been fed during or immediately after her owner sits down to work at the computer. Because of this, the cat never gets excited at all when her owner is sitting at the computer. This is an example of:

Inhibitory conditioning

What is interesting about behavior that has been maintained on an intermittent schedule of reinforcement rather than on a continuous reinforcement schedule?

It's more resistant to extinction. In other words, it's less likely to go away after reinforcement has been removed than behavior that's been maintained on a continuous schedule.

After your aunt dies, you agree to take in her dog. In order to have some fun with the dog, you decide to try to clicker train the dog. The first step in clicker training is to have the clicker make a clicking sound, and immediately give the dog a treat. After a number of clicker/treat pairings, the dog should begin to salivate and become excited at just the sound of the c licker. However, after hundreds of pairings, you notice that the dog isn't conditioning at all to the clicker, and does not salivate or become excited at all. What you didn't know is that your aunt had a clicker at home, and would click it throughout the day to relieve stress. In the dog's previous home, it heard the clicker all the time, and it was never paired with anything interesting. The reason the dog isn't conditioning now to the clicker is because of:

Latent inhibition

Latent learning is:

Learning that happens despite a lack of apparent external reinforcement.

Which schedule of reinforcement is ideal when an individual is first learning a new behavior?

NOT Variable ratio (VR) schedule

Your pet hamster likes it when you take her out of her cage and let her ride around on your shoulder while you do your homework. One day, however, your hamster bites you on the ear while you have her out. You immediately put her back in her cage, which she finds very boring. As a result of getting put back in her cage, your hamster has never tried to bite you again. With respect to your hamster's biting behavior, not getting to ride around on your shoulder any more is an example of:

Negative punishment

A teenager was asked by her father to clean her room. She didn't clean her room, and as a result, her father took away her car keys, and therefore her driving privileges. Once she cleaned her room, her dad gave her the keys back. She's much more likely to remember to clean her room now in order to avoid having her car taken away. With respect to cleaning her room, having her car taken away is an example of:

Negative reinforcement

Your parents grounded your little sister until she improved her grades. On her last report card, your sister earned As and Bs in all of her classes, so your parents told your sister that she is no longer grounded. With respect to getting A and B grades, not getting to do all the fun things she otherwise would have been able to had she not been grounded is an example of what type of operant conditioning?

Negative reinforcement

Your little sister likes to bother you while you are trying to study. You yell at her to get away from you, but because she wants the attention, she comes back to bother you each time you yell at her. Is this an example of classical or operant conditioning?

Operant

Which of the following is something common that parents do that is an example of the Premack Principle?

Parents set up a contingency where their child will get to go to an amusement park if they finish all of their chores on time.

Which of the following is something that has NOT been shown to make observational learning more likely?

Past experience with intermittent reinforcement.

Which animal did B.F. Skinner train to be able to accurately guide bombs during World War II?

Pigeons

A rat is given a mild electric shock for turning the wrong way in a maze. The rat no longer turns that way in the maze. With regard to turning in the direction of where the rat got shocked, getting the shock is an example of which form of operant conditioning?

Positive Punishment

In a lab that studies fear conditioning, a rat is put in a chamber that is able to deliver shocks if the rat performs a particular behavior. At first, no shocks are given, and the rat freely explores all parts of the enclosure. After a few days, the chamber is programmed to deliver a shock if the rat enters the northeast corner of the chamber. Once the rat visits that corner and gets shocked a few times, it doesn't go into that corner again. With regard to visiting that particular corner of its chamber, getting a shock is an example of:

Positive punishment

Marcia decided to make her bed one day. Her parents noticed, and took her on a trip to an ice cream parlor as a result. Now, Marcia is much more likely to make her bed. With regard to Marcia's bed-making behavior, taking her out for ice cream was:

Positive reinforcement

You treat yourself to your favorite restaurant for completing all of your homework for the week. In the future, you're more likely to complete all your homework in a given week. With respect to completing all your homework, treating yourself to your favorite restaurant is an example of what type of operant conditioning?

Positive reinforcement

Which of the following is an example of a secondary reinforcer or punisher?

Praise from a teacher

Shaping is:

Reinforcing small steps toward a particular behavior until that behavior is produced and can be reinforced.

You decide to take a job house-sitting for one of your professors. She lives in a big, creepy old house in the Dundee area, and as it gets later and later at night, you think you hear noises outside of something scratching trying to get in. You recently heard a news story that there might be a chupacabra (a scary animal) in the area, but you're not sure whether it's true. With each scratch, you become more and more scared. Just when you're on the brink of panicking, your mom calls you on your phone, which is in your pocket, and set to ring as well as vibrate. This sudden noise and movement when you were already becoming increasingly scared was enough to make you jump out of your chair and scream. This is an example of:

Sensitization

Just like in the previous question, you clicker train your dog so that the dog salivates when it hears the clicking sound of the clicker. Then your niece plays with the clicker without giving your dog treats, and the dog stops salivating. Once your niece leaves, you get kind of busy, and forget to work with your dog and the clicker for a few weeks. Even though the dog stopped salivating when your niece was playing with the clicker, two weeks later when you make the clicking noise with the clicker, the dog salivates again. This is an example of:

Spontaneous recovery

A lucky dog named Polly has an owner who works at a pet store, and Polly gets to go to work with the owner every day. Every time a customer walks in the door, there is a bell that goes off alerting the workers that there is someone in the store. There is also a bowl of treats right by the door, and every time a person walks in, Polly gets a treat. Over time, Polly has come to associate the ringing of the bell with getting a treat, so now when she hears it, she salivates a little. In this scenario, the conditioned stimulus is _____________________, the unconditioned stimulus is _____________________ and the conditioned response is __________________________.

The bell, a treat, salivation

Every time someone flushes a toilet in your school dorm, the shower becomes very hot and causes you to jump back. Over time, you begin to jump back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water temperature even changes. The unconditioned stimulus is __________________, the conditioned stimulus is ____________________. The unconditioned response is ________________________, and the conditioned response is ___________________________.

The hot water, hearing the toilet flush : feeling pain from the hot water, jumping out of the way

Which of the following stimuli are we most likely to sensitize to?

The sound of a tree loudly hitting the side of your house during a tornado

What did B.F. Skinner notice happened if pigeons were "accidentally" (i.e. randomly) reinforced?

They engaged in "superstitious" behaviors that were actually not responsible for the appearance of the reinforcer.

Your little brother receives secret messages from the neighbor boy. In order to exchange these secret communications, the neighbor boy puts the messages in an envelope, and hides them under your doormat. Your little brother gets an average of 1 of these messages per day, but he might not get any for a week or more, or he might get more than one in a day (it depends on how much homework the neighbor has). Your little brother spends a lot of time checking under the doormat for his messages, but he doesn't always find a message there from the neighbor. What type of schedule of reinforcement is your brother on?

Variable interval

Of the four main types of reinforcement, which one tends to lead to the highest rates of a behavior with no breaks?

Variable ratio

You go to Las Vegas and play the slot machines. You get a payout every 50 pulls on average. What type of schedule of reinforcement does this represent?

Variable ratio

My dog likes to stick his head in holes in the ground in order to try to catch the little rodents that live in them. He catches a rodent on average every 25 times he sticks his head in a hole. What type of schedule of reinforcement is this?

Variable ratio (VR) 25 schedule

Which of the following represents operant conditioning (as opposed to classical conditioning)?

You decide to try a new brand of cereal. You like it, and so decide to go back and buy it again.