PSY Chapter 8

Professor McMann loves to give pop quizzes in his psychology class. Students are always studying for this class because they never know when Professor McMann will give the next quiz. Sometimes he gives a pop quiz every other class session. Sometimes he gives a pop quiz every third session, and sometimes he even gives a pop quiz every class session. Professor McMann is using which schedule of reinforcement to keep his students studying?

Variable interval

The reinforcement schedule that typically yields the highest response rate is the _________ schedule of reinforcement.

Variable ratio

What is behavior modification?

a formalized technique based on operant conditioning that has been used to help people stop smoking and stick to a diet

Fixed-Ration (FR) Schedule

a pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which reinforcement follows a set number of responses EX: a worker being paid by the number of unites he or she produces, whether the units are pajama sets or pizza delivered. a worker whose wages or tips depend on the number he or she produces will work faster, possibly risking injury, to make more money.

Fixed-Interval (FI) Schedule

a pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which responses are always reinforced after a set period of time has passed; response rate accelerates as the time of reinforcement approaches EX: one's studying behavior before and after a test. if tests are given every 4 weeks, students learn that immediately after the test their performance will not be evaluated, so we would expect to see a drop in rate of studying at that time. the same is true of class attendance before and after exams.

Variable-Interval (VI) Schedule

a pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which responses are reinforced after time periods of different duration have passed; produce a steady, moderate rate of response EX: suppose you are trying to reach a good friend on the phone but every time you call you get her voicemail. you can tell she is on the line already, so you keep calling back every few minutes to see if she is off. her conversation can only last so long. eventually, she will pick up the phone (your reward), but the wait time is unpredictable. reinforcement follows this type of schedule.

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)

developed by Ivar Lovaas at UCLA, uses reinforcement to increase the frequency of adaptive behaviors in autistic children and, in some cases, punishment to decrease the likelihood of maladaptive behaviors

The ability to differentiate between two similar stimuli, one of which is associated with__________.

discrimination

What did Bandura call learning by doing?

enactive learning

Learning

enduring changes in behavior that occur with experience

Stimulus Generalization

extension of the association between UCS and CS to include a broad array of similar stimuli EX: for several years, S

Between introverts and extraverts, who is more likely to smoke?

extraverts

In the classic "Little Albert" study, the baby was conditioned to

fear white rats and other white fluffy objects

Behaviorism aims to study behavior in what ways?

measurable

Without the connections between learning and _________, we could not process, retain or make use of new information.

memory

Unlike operant conditioning, classical conditioning typically involves:

involuntary behavior

Classical conditioning modifies __________ behavior while operant conditioning modifies _________ behavior.

involuntary;voluntary

________ neurons are at least partially responsible for the modeling behavior exhibited in observational learning.

mirror

What is the process of observing and imitating behaviors performed by others?

modeling

When a child tells a doll not to eat too much candy after having been told so by its mother, this is an example of ________.

modeling

What are two examples of secondary reinforcers?

money & praise

Positive reinforcement occurs when something that an individual wants ___________ in an effort to increase a behavior:

is presented to that individual

Learning that occurs without any reinforcement and isn't apparent until the reinforcement is given is known as

latent learning

With what kind of learning can a new behavior be learned but won't be exhibited until an incentive is provided?

latent learning

Instinctive Drift

learned behavior that shifts toward instinctive, unlearned behavior tendencies

What is an instinctive drift?

learned behavior that shifts toward instinctive, unlearned behavior tendencies

Kenneth is three years old. He doesn't want to go to the doctor's office because, "Doctors give you shots." This is an example of

learning

The essence of _________ involves acquiring new knowledge, skills, values, or behaviors.

learning

Enactive Learning

learning by doing

What is enactive learning?

learning by doing

Observational Learning

learning by watching the behavior of others

As learning occurs over time, researchers can plot a _________ to illustrate the change.

learning curve

Latent Learning

learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement and is not demonstrated until later, when reinforcement occurs

Learning by others takes

less time than learning by trial and error and is more efficient

Having your car keys confiscated because you came home late is an example of _______ because it will decrease your behavior of staying out late.

negative punishment

Laura watched a public service announcement to curb smoking in which a young boy describes how his mother died from lung cancer after smoking for twenty years. In this example the unconditioned response would be

sadness regarding the mother's death

On a variable _________, individuals cannot predict when reinforcement will occur.

schedule of reinforcement

__________ reinforcers are learned by classical conditioning.

secondary

Rewards that appear to come with smoking, such as peer acceptance and looking like an adult, are examples of

secondary reinforcers

Jake is trying to teach his dog Peach how to roll over. He first gives Peach a treat whenever Peach sits. Next, he no longer rewards Peach for sitting but rather gives Peach a treat when the dog actually lies down. Finally, Jake rewards Peach only when the dog rolls over. Jake is using ________ to train peach to roll over.

shaping

What is a type of conditioning that involves gradually reinforcing behaviors that come closer and closer to the desired target behavior describes the process of?

shaping

The acquisition of smoking behavior is perhaps best explained by

social learning theory

Forward Conditioning

the neutral stimulus being presented just before the UCS

The automatic shift of attention toward a new stimulus is known as

the orienting response

Which theorist proposed social learning theory and suggested that observation and modeling were major components of learning?

Albert Bandura

Who developed social learning theory?

Albert Bandura

A child sees her lunch box and then feels hunger pangs. In this example, the hunger pangs are a(n)

CR

Edwin Employer pays his workers at 5:00pm every Friday. Edwin is using which schedule of reinforcement to reward his employees?

Fixed interval

The _________ schedule of reinforcement reinforces behavior only after a specific number of responses are made.

Fixed ratio

Cara and Mike want to learn how to rebuild car engines. Mike watches his father rebuild an engine on an old car. His dad explains the process to Mike and shows him the tools that are necessary for the procedure. Cara gets a book from the library and goes home to try to rebuild an engine that she picked up from the junkyard. She follows the steps in the book. Which of the following correctly describes the types of learning taking place here?

Cara is using enactive learning, and Mike is using observational learning

Behavior that is rewarded some but not all of the time is a ________ schedule or reinforcement.

Intermittent

Conditioned Response (CR)

a behavior that an organism learns to perform when presented with the CS

What is a Skinner box?

a chamber with a food dispenser and a response lever used for operant conditioning

Social Learning Theory

a description of the kind of learning that occurs when we model the behavior of others

What is conditioning?

a form of associative learning in which a behavior becomes more likely because the organism associates that behavior with certain events in its environment

Classical Conditioning

a form of associative learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus to which one has an automatic, inborn response

Conditioning

a form of associative learning in which behaviors are triggered by association with events in the envrionment

Variable-Ratio (VR) Schedule

a pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which the number of responses needed for reinforcement changes EX: a slot machine is an example of a device that delivers reinforcement on this schedule. the player cannot know how many pulls of the slow machine arm it will take to win. one one occasion it might take just one pull to win a small jackpot. other times dozens of quarters might be spent before winning.

Association

a process by which two pieces of information from the environment are repeatedly linked, so that we begin to connect them in our minds

Skinner Box

a simple chamber in which a small animal can move around, with a food dispenser and a response lever to trigger food delivery a small region of the floor can be set up to deliver a shock as a punisher. the rats learn through punishment to avoid that region of the floor.

Punishment

a stimulus that decreases the frequency of that behavior punishers decrease the frequency of a behavior, while negative reinforcers increase desired behaviors, so they cannot be punishers

What is a neutral stimulus?

a stimulus that doesn't cause a response unless it is associated with a UCS

Biological Constraint Model

a view on learning which proposes that some behaviors are inherently more likely to be learned than others

Positive punishment is the:

addition of a stimulus to decrease a behavior

Which statement most clearly explains the meaning of 'unconditioned'?

an 'unlearned' response that is reflexive in nature

Reinforcer

an internal or external event that increases the frequency of a behavior

What is learning?

any permanent change in behavior brought on by experience

What is the central assumption to Thorndike's "law of effect?"

any response that leads to a satisfying experience is more likely to be repeated

Through experience, we learn to

associate one experience with another

Dr. Barrett runs a smoking cessation clinic. At his clinic, he uses a technique where he provides operant conditioning to change the smoking behavior. He also offers patients nicotine gum to chew between sessions. What type of technique is Dr. Barrett applying?

behavior modification

Which view of learning says that some behaviors are inherently more likely to be learned than others?

biological constraint model

What is the best way to think about positive and negative reinforcement?

both strengthen behavior but positive reinforcement means something is added and negative reinforcement means something is removed

How does food in the mouth cause a dog to salivate?

by stimulating a reflexive response

Which of the following is an example of a primary reinforcer?

catching a fish and eating it

What is the form of associative learning where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus to which the subject has an automatic inborn response?

classical conditioning

While he was studying digestion in dogs, Pavlov discovered ___________ by accident.

classical conditioning

Which two learning theories have primarily been used to help make smoking seem less rewarding?

classical conditioning & operant conditioning

A ___________ stimulus is previous neutral stimulus that one learns to associate with the UCS.

conditioned

A neutral stimulus initially produces no response, yet a _________ stimulus produces a learned response.

conditioned

After "Little Albert" was _________ to fear white rats, he also feared similar objects such as white rabbits.

conditioned

What are key concepts in classical conditioning?

conditioned stimuli & conditioned response

Every morning when Laurie clicks her alarm to the off position, her dogs know that it is time to go outside. This is an example of learned...

conditioning

Bob Boss rewards his telemarketers with &5 every time they make a phone call. What type of reinforcement is Bob using?

continuous reinforcement

Jillian, a stat-at-home mother, watches a lot of daytime television. During the day, Charmin toilet paper runs lots of television ads. Jillian always smiles when she sees these ads because they have so many cute babies on them. When Jillian is shopping at her local market, she finds herself smiling when she is in the toilet paper section, especially when she is near the Charmin toilet paper. In this example, the unconditioned stimulus(I) is(are) the

cute babies

________ ratio reinforcement follows a set number of responses.

fixed ratio

Reflexes

fixed stimulus-response pattern

When trying to pair conditioned stimuli to unconditioned stimuli, the unconditioned stimulus:

follows the conditioned stimulus

What are some examples of operant conditioning?

getting an allowance after completing chores, getting spanked for running in the street, & getting relief from pain after taking an aspirin

Which of the following is an example of positive punishment?

getting spanked for running in the street

What does conditioned taste aversion explain?

if we eat a particular food and it makes us extremely ill, we will be less likely to eat it in the future

Which of the following statements about imprinting is false?

imprinting occurs in all species, including humans

Positive reinforcement _________ increases the likelihood that a behavior will occur again.

increases

Identify the key conclusion drawn from Bandura's Bobo Doll experiments.

initial studies demonstrated the power of modeling in the learning of aggression

Primary Reinforcers

innate, unlearned reinforcers that are learned by association, usually via classical conditioning EX: food, water, or sex

To increase productivity, the clown factory decides to have a contest. The person who completes the most clowns on Monday does not have to come to work on Tuesday. The factory is using ________ as a motivator.

negative reinforcement

When removal of a stimulus in response to a behavior increases the frequency of that behavior, ____________ is said to have occurred.

negative reinforcement

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that does not bring about a response of interest is a _________ stimulus.

neutral

Skinner and Watson ignored the role of cognitive and brain processes in learning because these could not be

observd

Edward Thorndike's study, which involved placing food deprived cats in a puzzle box and then recording the time it took for the cat to escape, was used to support which view of learning?

operant conditioning

What kind of conditioning has occurred when the consequences of an action influence the likelihood that the behavior will be displayed again?

operant conditioning

Which of the following types of learning helps maintain smoking behavior?

operant conditioning

Which of the following is not an example of learning because it disappears immediately with a slight change in the stimulus?

orienting response

When comparing observational learning in humans and nonhuman primates it appears that...

other primates are more likely than humans to mimic the specific details of an observed behavior

Schedules of Reinforcement

pattern of intermittent reinforcement distinguished by whether reinforcement occurs after a set number of responses or after a certain amount of time has passed since the last reinforcement

What behavior do rats engage in while in a "Skinner box?"

perform a behavior

How is the neutral stimulus related to the CS?

the neutral stimulus becomes the CS once conditioning has occurred

The clown factory's bosses also do not like mistakes. If a worker forgets to put a nose on a clown, the bosses publicly scold the worker. This behavioral tactic is an example of _________.

positive punishment

Julie works at a factory that produces toy clowns. As the toy clowns come down the assembly line it is Julie's job to add a red nose to each clown as the last step in completing each toy. For every 100 clowns Julie completes, she receives $10.00, which is a(n)

positive reinforcement

Which of the following are processes in operant conditioning that increase the probability that a behavior will be repeated?

positive reinforcement & negative reinforcement

Water, food, and sex are all considered _________ reinforcers.

primary

_________ reinforcers are innate, whereas _________ reinforcers are learned.

primary;secondary

Any stimulus that decreases the frequency of a behavior is a(n)

punishment

Punishment will tend to:

reduce the frequency of a behavior

If Coach Winner wants to use shaping successfully to teach Betsy Beginner how to serve a tennis ball, he should

reinforce Betsy for correctly tossing the ball, then for correctly swinging her racket, then for correctly hitting the ball, and finally for aiming the ball into the correct box

Both positive and negative __________ increases the likelihood that a behavior will occur again.

reinforcement

Continuous Reinforcement

reinforcement of a behavior every time it occurs

Intermittent Reinforcement

reinforcement of a behavior--but not after every response

Secondary (Conditioned) Reinforcers

reinforcers that are learned by association, usually via classical conditioning EX: money, grades, & peer approval

Which of the following is an example of a negative reinforcer that helps maintain smoking behaviors in an individual?

removal of social isolation for some smokers

John Watson and B.F. Skinner took the position that all learning was a function of either ________ or ________, both of which come from the outside environment.

stimuli; consequences

________ occurs when a conditioned response (CR) occurs only after the exact conditioned stimulus (CS) to which it was conditioned.

stimulus discrimination

The association between a UCS and CS can be extended to include more stimuli (more stimuli related to the CS can elicit the CR). What is this phenomenon called?

stimulus generalization

When two similar, but different, stimuli elicit the same conditioned response, __________ _____________ has occurred.

stimulus generalization

Positive reinforcement _________ and negative reinforcement _________.

strengthens behavior by adding a stimulus; strengthens behavior by removing a stimulus

Learning, in a biological sense, is the growth and strengthening of new

synapses

In operant conditioning, what does it mean to say a response has been strengthened or weakened?

that responses are more or less likely to occur predictably

Positive Punishment

the addition of a stimulus that decreases behavior

In Garcia's experiment on conditioned taste aversion with rats, what was the dependent variable?

the amount of saccharin water the rats consumed

Law of Effect

the consequences of a behavior increase (or decrease) the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

the environmental input that always produces the same unlearned response the meat powder that always produced the salivation

Modeling

the imitation of behaviors performed by others

What is the idea that consequences of a behavior can increase or decrease the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated?

the law of effect

Conditioned Taste Aversion

the learned avoidance of a particular taste or food

What is a fixed ratio schedule?

the pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which reinforcement follows a set number of responses

What is a variable interval schedule?

the pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which responses are reinforced after time periods of different duration have passed

What is a variable ratio schedule?

the pattern of intermittent reinforcement in which the number of responses needed for reinforcement changes

Positive Reinforcement

the presentation or addition of a stimulus after a behavior occurs that increases how often that behavior will occur

Operant Conditioning

the process of changing behavior by manipulating the consequences of that behavior

Imprinting

the rapid and innate learning of the characteristics of a caregiver within a very short period of time after birth

What is a learning curve?

the rate at which learning occurs over time

Shaping

the reinforcement of successive approximations of a desired behavior

Negative Reinforcement

the removal of a stimulus after a behavior to increase the frequency of that behavior

Negative punishment is

the removal of a stimulus to decrease a behavior

Negative Punishment

the removal of a stimulus to decrease behavior

Stimulus Discrimination

the restriction of a CR (such a salivation) to only the exact CS to which it was conditioned

Ethology

the scientific study of animal behavior

What is ethology?

the study of animal behavior

Albert Bandura created

the study on aggression with the Bobo-Doll

What part of the brain controls or modulates learning?

the subcortical structures

What is spontaneous recovery?

the sudden reappearance of an extinguished response

Spontaneous Recovery

the sudden reappearance of extinguished response

Extinction

the weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response in the absence of reinforcement; occurs when the UCS is no longer paired with the CS

_________ is the conditioned stimulus and ________ is the conditioned response in the above example

toilet paper; smiling

What are all of the components that are considered applications of operant conditioning?

treatment of self-harming behaviors, treatment for suicidal teens, modifying behaviors, & treatment of autism

What kind of stimulus always produces the same unlearned response?

unconditioned

Jillian's smiling at the cute babies is a(n)

unconditioned response

When a dog salivates upon tasting food, the salivation is called the:

unconditioned response

You see a purple light and immediately receive a mild electric shock. This happens several times. You eventually cringe at the site of the purple light. When you cringe as the electric shock hits you, yo are displaying a(n)

unconditioned response

When a dog salivates after having food placed in its mouth, the food is called the __________ stimulus.

unconditioned stimulus

An example of __________ ratio is when someone plays the slot machines waiting for the jackpot.

variable ratio

An example of ___________ ratio is when someone plays the slot machines waiting for the jackpot.

variable ratio

What is extinction?

when a previously conditioned response decreases and eventually disappears

What is a fixed interval schedule?

when a reinforcement follows the first response after a set amount of time

Backward Conditioning

when the neutral stimulus follows the UCS; this conditioning is less successful