PSY 289 Chapter 6
32.Define and be able to provide and recognize original examples of the following reinforcement [i] schedules intermittent reinforcement
...
32.Define and be able to provide and recognize original examples of the following reinforcement [i] schedules variable-interval schedules. What type of patterns of responding are generated by fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, and variable-interval schedules
...
32.Define and be able to provide and recognize original examples of the following reinforcement [i] schedules variable-ratio schedules;
...
32.Define and be able to provide and recognize original examples of the following reinforcement [i] schedules: (a) continuous reinforcement;
...
33.Define "positive reinforcement" Provide and recognize original examples of each type of reinforcement
...
33.Define negative reinforcement". Provide and recognize original examples of each type of reinforcement. Comment: Many behaviour [i] analysts no longer make use of the distinction between negative and positive reinforcement. [i] One reason for dropping the distinction is its ambiguity. For example, Weiten and McCann (2007) suggest that rushing home in winter to get out of the cold is an example of negative reinforcement. [i] Is this negative reinforcement [i] because the cold is terminated by arriving home, or is it positive reinforcement [i] because the warmth of home is presented upon arrival? The effective consequence in such situations is not removal of the cold or presentation of the warmth, but the stimulus [i] change from cold to warmth. Cold is removed and warmth is presented simultaneously, which makes this type of example difficult to interpret as either negative or positive reinforcement. [i] Note that many reinforcers will involve a stimulus [i] change, as in this example.
...
34.Define "escape learning. [i]" Provide and recognize original examples of escape learning [i] (also called "escape conditioning").
...
35.Define "avoidance learning. [i]" Provide and recognize original examples of avoidance learning [i] (also called "avoidance conditioning").
...
36.Describe the two-process theory of avoidance
...
32.Define and be able to provide and recognize original examples of the following reinforcement [i] schedules fixed-ratio schedules;
...
10.Does classical conditioning [i] always occur as a mechanical process, as in the way salivation occurs to food cues? Explain why, or why not
...
11.Define "acquisition."
...
12.What features of a neutral stimulus [i] make it likely that it will become an effective conditioned stimulus?
...
13.Define "extinction" as it occurs in classical conditioning. [i] Be able to provide and recognize original examples of extinction
...
14.Describe the classical conditioning [i] phenomena of spontaneous recovery
...
15.Define and describe the process of stimulus generalization [i] as it occurs in classical conditioning. [i] Be able to provide and recognize instances of the stimulus generalization [i] of classical conditioning.
...
16.Define and describe the process of stimulus discrimination [i] as it occurs in classical conditioning. [i] Be able to provide and recognize instances of the stimulus discrimination [i] of classical conditioning
...
17.Define "higher-order conditioning." Why does higher-order conditioning "extend the reach" of classical conditioning?
...
18.Define "operant conditioning." Who invented this term?
...
19.Define "Thorndike's law of effect, Comment: Thorndike defined the law of effect [i] in terms of "satisfying effects," which turned out to be one of the less satisfying features of the law of effect. [i] The problem is that "satisfying effects" are difficult to define. What is the difference between a satisfying effect and one that is not so satisfying? The solution to this problem is to define the law of effect [i] in terms of some change in behaviour, [i] such as performing the response more frequently. This is essentially what Skinner did in his definition of reinforcement. [i] Instead of defining a reinforcer in terms of satisfying effects, Skinner defined it in terms of the effect of engaging in the response more often.
...
20.Define Skinner's concept of reinforcement. Comment: Note that Skinner's concept of reinforcement [i] is in terms of making the reinforced response more often. This is a functional definition because reinforcement [i] is defined in terms of its function in increasing the frequency of the reinforced response.
...
21.What is a Skinner box?
...
22.What are reinforcement contingencies?
...
23.Define and describe a cumulative recorder.
...
24.Define "shaping." Be able to provide and recognize original examples of shaping
...
25.Define "operant extinction"
...
25.Define "resistance to extinction". Be able to provide and recognize original examples of operant extinction.
...
26.Define "discriminative stimuli." Provide and recognize original examples of discriminative stimuli.as they apply to both classical and operant conditioning.
...
27.Why do behaviourists object to the practice of defining reinforcement [i] in terms of reward or pleasure?
...
28.Do most behaviourists believe that scientific assertions must be limited to what can be observed? (p. 242, and Study Guide Comment) Comment: Weiten and McCann (2007) are also incorrect on this point. As discussed in Chapter 1, contemporary behaviourists do not limit themselves to what can be publicly observed. Skinner's book entitled Notebooks, Notebooksfor example, is full of observations of his own private behaviour [i] and private stimuli, and he makes use of these unobservable events in his analysis. Here we reiterate a point made in Chapter 1: Do not believe everything you read in textbooks. Especially if you go on in psychology, [i] read widely to obtain different points of view in psychology. [i] It is particularly helpful to read the original writings of such key psychologists as Freud and Skinner directly. Direct reading will allow you to avoid mistakes like those made by Weiten and McCann
...
29.Specify what effect delaying reinforcement [i] has on the effectiveness of reinforcement.
...
30.Define "primary reinforcers" (also known as "unconditioned reinforcers") and "secondary reinforcers" (also known as "conditioned reinforcers"). Be able to provide and recognize original examples of each type of reinforcer. Comment: Reinforcers such as food, water, and sexual contact are unconditioned reinforcers because they are unlearned reinforcers. Reinforcers such as money and praise are conditioned reinforcers [i] because they gain their reinforcing power through learned associations with other reinforcers.
...
31.Define "schedule of reinforcement."
...
32.Define and be able to provide and recognize original examples of the following reinforcement [i] schedules fixed-interval schedules;
...
37.Define "punishment." Provide and recognize original examples of punishment. [i] (p. 247) Comment: Weiten and McCann (2007) distinguish between positive and negative punishment. This distinction is mainly found in introductory psychology [i] textbooks and nowhere else. The distinction between positive and negative punishment suffers from the same problems discussed above in connection with positive and negative reinforcement 38.Distinguish between punishment [i] and negative reinforcement. [i] (p. 247) Comment: In punishment, [i] a consequence for a response acts to make the response less likely to occur. In negative reinforcement, [i] a consequence for a response (responsetermination of a stimulus) [i] acts to make the response more likely to occur. Punishment [i] decreases some measure of the punished response. Negative reinforcement [i] increases some measure of the negatively reinforced response.
...
39.For what two reasons is the concept of punishment [i] confusing to many students?
...
4.Describe Pavlov's discovery of "psychic reflexes."
...
40.What side effects are associated with physical punishment?
...
41.Identify and describe the five guidelines for using punishment [i] properly
...
42.Define "instinctive drift." Explain how the Brelands observed instinctive drift in the raccoons they trained.
...
43.Define "conditioned taste aversion."
...
44.What is preparedness (as applicable to conditioning processes)? How is it suspected that preparedness has been established through evolutionary processes?Comment: Evolution is an ongoing process. Modern threats to humans are not snakes and spiders, but human inventions such as motor vehicles, which kill 1.2 million people annually according to the World Health Organization. If humans continue to use motor vehicles for millions of years, will they develop a preparedness to a conditioned aversion to cars?
...
45.Identify what makes a stimulus [i] a potentially effective CS, according to Robert Rescorla's research. (p. 252) Comment: At the beginning of the section on signal relations, Weiten and McCann (2007) suggest that cognitive processes are important. However, the extent to which a neutral stimulus [i] predicts an US is not a cognitive process; it is a relationship between stimuli and behaviour [i] elicited by the US.
...
46.Suppose you listen to a song while studying for an exam and later do well on the exam. Does this make listening to the song more likely to occur through reinforcement? [i] Explain.
...
47.Define "observational learning." [i] Be able to provide and recognize original examples of observational learning. [i] What are models?
...
48.Describe the distinction between the acquisition [i] of a behaviour [i] and its performance.
...
49.Describe Bandura's work that established a connection between observation of aggression [i] and imitation of those behaviours. What has more contemporary research established regarding this relationship? Comment: One of the most shocking practices in Western culture [i] is the depiction of violence on television and in movies. As Weiten and McCann (2007) state, it is known that viewing violent acts increases the likelihood that those acts will be imitated. Much of the violence in Western society can be logically attributed to the violence portrayed in the media. However, Western culture [i] places a high value on freedom, including the freedom to present acts of violence in entertainment media despite the data showing that society is worse off as a result.
...
5.Identify the basic elements of conditioning using Pavlov's terminology -conditioned stimulus,
...
5.Identify the basic elements of conditioning using Pavlov's terminology -neutral stimulus
...
50.What is behaviour modification? [i] Describe the steps that must be taken in designing an effective program in which you modify your own behaviour.
...
6.Explain how fears and anxieties that occur in everyday life can be due to classical conditioning. [i] (pp. 229-230) Comment: Many of our fears, as well as attractions, are learned through classical conditioning. [i] A key element in classical conditioning [i] is the process of generalization. Suppose someone has a bad experience with a police officer, for example, and this "spills over" to fear of all police officers. This "spilling-over" effect is a process of generalization, in which a behaviour [i] such as fear originally occurs in one specific instance (e.g., one police officer) and then generalizes to all members of a stimulus [i] class (e.g. all police officers).
...
7.Provide and recognize original examples of classical conditioning [i] in everyday life
...
8.Describe how classical conditioning [i] can suppress the immune response, [i] produce conditioned allergic reactions, and cause drug tolerance
...
9.Describe the procedure and results of Domjan and Williams's (1998) study of the classical conditioning [i] of sexual responding.
...
Be able to define the processes of ,stimulus as they apply to both classical and operant conditioning.
...
Be able to define the processes of and stimulus discrimination as they apply to both classical and operant conditioning.
...
Be able to define the processes of extinction,as they apply to both classical and operant conditioning.
...
Be able to define the processes of generalization as they apply to both classical and operant conditioning.
...
Define "generalization gradient." What does the curve of a generalization gradient represent if it is narrowly dispersed around a CS and if it is widely dispersed around a CS?
...
Describe the renewal effect. Can classical conditioning [i] be unlearned through extinction? [i] Explain. (p.
...
Describe the suspected role evolution has had in forming special connections among taste stimuli, nausea, and conditioned aversions.
...
Do most behaviourists believe that unobservable processes are somehow unscientific? (p. 242, and Study Guide Comment) Comment: Page 242 of the textbook contains an error. Weiten and McCann (2007) state that behaviourists object to defining reinforcement [i] in terms of pleasure because pleasure is unobservable. This is not true. The central objection to defining reinforcement [i] in terms of pleasure concerns the ambiguity of what pleasure is rather than its unobservability. Therefore, behaviourists prefer to define reinforcement [i] in terms of response consequences that make responses occur more frequently. Frequency of behaviour [i] can be measured and defined clearly, so there is no need to make use of an ambiguous concept like pleasure.
...
Explain the meaning of a steep and a shallow slope of a cumulative record.
...
How is it related to the acquisition [i] of a conditioned response [i]?Comment: Weiten and McCann (2007) define stimulus contiguity [i] in terms of stimuli that "occur together in time and space." The specific important contiguity in classical conditioning [i] is the co-occurrence of the neutral stimulus [i] (NS) and the unconditioned stimulus [i] (US). Conditioning is generally most effective when the NS occurs and then the US occurs quickly afterward. This is temporal (time-based) contiguity because the two stimuli must occur together close in time. Spatial contiguity is also involved because the two stimuli must occur together at the same location and thereby be capable of stimulating the sensory receptors of the animal or person whose behaviour [i] is being conditioned
...
Is it best to end behaviour modification [i] programs suddenly or gradually? Explain.
...
What are antecedents?
...
What are the four key processes that Albert Bandura identified as being crucial in observational learning?
...
What are the general disadvantages of punishment? [i] (pp. 247-248) Comment: Weiten and McCann (2007) confine their discussion of the side effects of punishment [i] to physical punishment, which is misleading because it does not address the disadvantages of all types of punishment. [i] Punishment [i] can produce: (a) undesirable emotional responses; (b) aggressive behaviours; (c) undesired imitation of the act of punishment; (d) inappropriate conditioned punishers; (e) escape from and avoidance of people who use punishment; and (f) the lack of acceptance of punishment [i] in modern society
...
What is a token economy?
...
What is stimulus contiguity?
...
What principle of conditioning do taste aversions appear to violate? How did Garcia's work shed light on this issue?
...
What puzzle does avoidance conditioning present?
...
3.Define "classical conditioning."
...Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus. The process was first described around 1900 by Ivan Pavlov, and it is sometimes called Pavlovian conditioning in tribute to him.
2.Define "phobias."
...Phobias are irrational fears of specific objects or situations.
5.Identify the basic elements of conditioning using Pavlov's terminology -conditioned response
...the conditioned stimulus (CS) is a previously neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response. The conditioned response (CR) is a learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning
5.Identify the basic elements of conditioning using Pavlov's terminology -unconditioned response
...the unconditioned stimulus (US) is a stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning The unconditioned response (UR) is an unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning.
1.Define the terms "learning"
learning is any relatively durable change in behavior or knowledge that is due to experience.
1.Define the term "conditioning."
a specific kind of learning: conditioning. Conditioning involves learning associations between events that occur in an organism's environment
