AP Psychology Chapter 6 Test

Which of the following is the best example of Premack's principle for a normal child? a. "When you eat your spinach, you can go outside and play with your friends." b. "If you do not eat your spinach, you will be punished." c. "Eat your spinach, and you will grow up big and strong like your father." d. "If you do not want your spinach, give it to the dog."

a. "When you eat your spinach, you can go outside and play with your friends."

Art has doting parents who praise him every time he sits down and studies. Ben has parents who praise him every now and then when he studies. A learning theorist would predict that if both sets of parents stopped giving encouragement for studying, __________ would continue studying longer because behaviors rewarded on a _________ schedule persist longer. a. Ben; partial b. Art; partial c. Ben; continuous d. Art; continuous

a. Ben; partial

When Ken kisses Barbie, his heart races. For a month, Barbie snapped her fingers just before she kissed him. She stopped snapping her fingers, but now whenever Ken hears someone snapping their fingers, his heart begins to race. This is an example of _________ conditioning, and finger snapping is the __________. a. classical; conditioned stimulus b. classical; primary reinforcer c. operant; primary reinforcer d. operant; conditioned stimulus

a. classical; conditioned stimulus

Baby Abbey was playing with her favorite toy rattle when her mom dropped an armful of pots and pans behind her. The loud noise made her startle and cry. Subsequently, on seeing her rattle, she cries. However, Mom continues to give Baby Abbey her favorite rattle and doesn't drop any more pots and pans. We would expect that Baby Abbey's crying when seeing the rattle would now a. extinguish b. decrease bc of spontaneous recovery c. continue through intermittent reinforcement d. generalize

a. extinguish

Psychologists have defined learning as a. the modification through experience of preexisting behavior and understanding b. the systematic organization of information that facilitates later recall and use c. a temporary change in behavior that results from past experience d. the adaptation of instinctual responses to new environments

a. the modification through experience of preexisting behavior and understanding

Which of the following is true about the relationship between violence and watching violent TV? a. watching violent TV and violence are positively correlated b. watching violent TV leads to violent behavior c. violent behaviors lead to increased time spent watching violent TV d. all of the above

a. watching violent TV and violence are positively correlated

Extinction will be most rapid after a history of __________ reinforcement. a. variable-ratio b. continuous c. fixed-ratio d. variable-interval

b. continuous

Gabe is trying to get his dog, Trixie, to sit up. He starts rewarding her first when she lies down. Then he rewards her when she is sitting on her backside. And finally he rewards her only when she sits up with her paws off the ground. Gabe got Trixie to sit up by using a. backward conditioning b. stimulus discrimination c. shaping d. secondary reinforcement

c. shaping

Brandon is trying to get out of his crib. He tries sticking his legs through the bars, hitting the bars with his arms, and butting them with his head. He realizes that he is getting nowhere. Then suddenly Brandon tries climbing over the top of the bars, and he breaks free. This illustrates a. escape conditioning b. insight c. use of cognitive maps d. vicarious experience

b. insight

When she was young, Nadia's father would always travel in a straight line through a forest if they became lost. Since she was always with her father when hiking, she never had to think much about this tactic. Many years later, while hiking alone, she did become lost but was able to escape the forest using her father's technique. This demonstrates a. a cognitive map b. latent learning c. insight d. avoidance conditioning

b. latent learning

Every time the papergirl says to her customers, "I want my two dollars," her customers give her money. In this example, receiving the customer's money is a(n) a. insight b. reinforcer c. operant d. unconditioned response

b. reinforcer

Bertha became conditioned to cry every time she saw an onion chopper because she associated it with cutting onions, which always made her eyes water. For weeks, the onion cutter sat on the counter with no onions. Eventually she never cried when she saw the cutter. Then the onion cutter disappeared for two months, and when Bertha saw it again for the first time, she began to cry. This response is known as a. negative reinforcement b. spontaneous recovery c. positive reinforcement d. reconditioning

b. spontaneous recovery

Learned helplessness involves learning that a. one has inferior mental abilities b. there is no relationship between one's behaviors and their consequences c. punishment will follow certain behaviors d. some habits are difficult to change

b. there is no relationship between one's behaviors and their consequences

Kong is scared to death of bananas and banana peels. However, he watches others eat bananas and receive a rewarding piece of candy every time they throw their banana peel away. Eventually, Kong began to eat bananas and throw the peels away. Kong learned through a. classical conditioning b. vicarious experience c. insight learning d. higher-order conditioning

b. vicarious experience

Russell's mom wants him to study for two hours each night, so she gives him treats during the evening. Sometimes she gives him the treats after 10 minutes, sometimes after 30 minutes. On the average, Russell is given a treat every 20 minutes. Which reinforcement schedule is Russell's mom utilizing? a. Variable-ratio b. Fixed-ratio c. Variable-interval d. Fixed-interval

c. Variable-interval

Jon ate a hamburger that was contaminated with nasty bacteria. While eating the burger, Jon was watching an episode of the television show Small Wonder. Jon soon developed an aversion to hamburgers, but not to the television program because of a. higher-order conditioning b. stimulus generalization c. biopreparedness d. reconditioning

c. biopreparedness

Teaching assistants are paid a meager sum of money once a month, whether they work hard or not. This type of payment plan demonstrates a _________ reinforcement schedule. a. variable-ratio b. variable-interval c. fixed-interval d. fixed-ratio

c. fixed-interval

If you want a strong reinforcer, you should mildly stimulate the a. substantia nigra b. striatum c. hypothalamus d. cerebellum

c. hypothalamus

Lavonne hates to listen to new age music. So when Lavonne refuses to clean her room, her mother makes her stay in her room and plays new age music through the intercom. Her mother tells Lavonne that as soon as she finishes cleaning her room the music will be stopped. This is an example of a. shaping b. positive reinforcement c. negative reinforcement d. punishment

c. negative reinforcement

If a research team is going to Chicago to conduct a study on latent learning, they would be most interested in interviewing a a. street performer who learned to play guitar by watching others b. homeless woman who believes she has no control over the outcomes of her life c. taxi driver who can give directions to a location he's never visited d. teacher who has her first grade students solve problems in groups

c. taxi driver who can give directions to a location he's never visited

Continued gambling behavior is best explained in terms of which process of learning? a. Observational learning b. Classical conditioning c. Social learning d. Partial reinforcement

d. Partial reinforcement

Which of the following is a primary reinforcer? a. Praise b. Pain c. Cigarettes d. Water

d. Water

Theresa discovers that reading her textbook the night before a sociology test is an effective study strategy. She decides to try the same thing in studying for psychology quizzes. Her study behavior has a. been punished b. been classically conditioned c. discriminated d. generalized

d. generalized

Hailey thinks it doesn't matter how hard she studies for her classes. Sometimes she studies and other times she doesn't, but her grades are always the same. Soon, Hailey never studies because she doesn't see any reason to do so. Hailey is experiencing a. latent learning b. social learning c. observational learning d. learned helplessness

d. learned helplessness

Jerome tried to please his parents by always being good, but whenever Jerome's older brother, Tom, misbehaved, their parents would punish them both. Jerome soon stopped trying to please his parents because he didn't think it would make any difference. This change in Jerome's behavior is an example of a. vicarious experience b. positive reinforcement c. classical conditioning d. learned helplessness

d. learned helplessness

Marat had a terrible toothache and decided to go to the dentist. The dentist made the problem worse, and Marat was in a lot more pain. Now he no longer trusts dentists and is unlikely to go to one in the future if he has a toothache. This is an example of a. negative reinforcement b. penalty c. positive reinforcement d. punishment

d. punishment

Fed up with his son not cleaning around the house, Jack buys a book called Shape Up, which instructs the reader to implement the operant conditioning technique of shaping. According to the book, Jack will want to a. utilize a mixture of punishment and reinforcement b. pair an unconditioned response with a conditioned one c. reward his son only after the final desired response is performed d. reinforce successive approximations of the desired response

d. reinforce successive approximations of the desired response

In token economy programs, therapists give mental patients tokens such as poker chips for desired behaviors. The tokens reinforce desired behaviors because they can be exchanged for TV time, desserts, etc. The tokens are thus ______ reinforcers. a. partial b. primary c. negative d. secondary

d. secondary

Jia is a bear trainer at the circus. She wants to teach Barney the bear to ride a unicycle. To do this, Jia first rewards Barney for sitting up. Then she rewards Barney only if he sits on the unicycle seat. Next she rewards him only for sitting on the unicycle seat and raising his paws toward the pedals and so on. By show time, Barney can ride the unicycle. This method is called a. higher-order conditioning b. reconditioning c. latent learning d. shaping

d. shaping

One aspect common to Tolman's research on latent learning and Kohler's research on insight is a. negative reinforcement b. slow, gradual improvement in performance c. vicarious experience d. sudden, dramatic improvement in performance

d. sudden, dramatic improvement in performance