AP Psych Unit 4: Learning

The best example of a biological predisposition to learning is which of the following? (A) After Ted got sick from eating sushi from the deli, he became nauseous whenever he thought of eating sushi. (B) Little Cardi gets in her toy car and imitates the way her mother drives a real car. (C) By using shaping techniques, a researcher can teach a chicken to play tic-tac-toe. (D) Rats can learn to run complex mazes even without food rewards present. (E) After getting kicked by a donkey, Sarah developed a fear of not only donkeys but also horses.

(A) After Ted got sick from eating sushi from the deli, he became nauseous whenever he thought of eating sushi.

Which of the following scenarios best demonstrates the acquisition of a fear of snakes? (A) Randolph's brother frequently startled Randolph whenever he approached a snake, which caused Randolph to develop an intense fear of them. (B) Tim used to be afraid of snakes, but after a number of harmless interactions with them, his fear subsided. (C) Faye's fear of snakes went away when she had a few pleasant encounters with them, but after a period of time, the fear returned.(D) Vivian's long-held fear of snakes only applied to ones that were striped. (E) Chester received a painful bite from a snake years ago, and ever since he has feared not only snakes but also worms and caterpillars.

(A) Randolph's brother frequently startled Randolph whenever he approached a snake, which caused Randolph to develop an intense fear of them.

Gayle's teacher wants to increase effective study habits in her students by using negative reinforcement. Gayle's teacher would most likely enforce this by (A) removing an unpleasant stimulus (B) removing a pleasant stimulus (C) introducing an unpleasant stimulus (D) introducing a pleasant stimulus (E) rewarding successive approximations of effective study habits

(A) removing an unpleasant stimulus

Sebastian wants to earn an "A" in his biology course but finds it difficult to stay motivated to study every night. His teacher recommends that he surround himself with peers who study regularly to increase his studying behavior. Sebastian's teacher made her recommendation based on the learning concept of (A) acquisition (B) classical conditioning (C) modeling (D) generalization (E) discrimination

(C) modeling

Molly is potty training her daughter, Mia. Every time Mia begins to urinate in her diaper, Molly says the word "bathroom" in the hope that Mia will begin to urinate when she hears this word while sitting on the toilet. Molly's efforts most resemble the studies of (A) B. F. Skinner, who studied operant conditioning (B) Edward Tolman, who studied latent learning (C) Sigmund Freud, who studied psychodynamic effect (D) Ivan Pavlov, who studied classical conditioning (E) Stanley Milgram, who studied obedience

(D) Ivan Pavlov, who studied classical conditioning

Which of the following is the best example of social learning? (A) Rita is a passenger in her friend's car every day on the way to work. One day her friend is sick so Rita has to drive herself. She is able to navigate with no problem. (B) Jezabeth was scratched by a cat, so now she is afraid of cats.(C) Delilah was mildly shocked when she tried to remove her smoke detector batteries, so she now flinches whenever she has to change the smoke detector batteries. (D) Sydney starts using the same word choices and vocal inflections as members of the popular group at her school. (E) Jerome gives his dog a treat every time his dog does not jump on guests, and eventually the dog stops jumping on guests even without a treat.

(D) Sydney starts using the same word choices and vocal inflections as members of the popular group at her school.

In classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus ______ A. naturally triggers a response B. is a naturally occurring response C.is initially neutral, and then comes to trigger a response D.prompts spontaneous recovery E. is a reward offered or completing a behavior

C.is initially neutral, and then comes to trigger a response

Rogelio has a number of health problems and would like to avoid medication as much as possible. He is considering biofeedback as an alternative form of treatment. Biofeedback would most benefit which of Rogelio's health problems? (A) Obesity, because Rogelio can use the cues from biofeedback to control his eating (B) Arthritis, because Rogelio can use the cues from biofeedback to learn to relax (C) Tension headaches, because Rogelio can use the cues from biofeedback to learn to relax (D) Depression, because Rogelio can use the cues from biofeedback to keep him from having depressive thoughts (E) Indigestion, because Rogelio can use the cues from biofeedback to control his indigestion

(C) Tension headaches, because Rogelio can use the cues from biofeedback to learn to relax

In which scenario does sunblock serve as a conditioned stimulus?(A) Ernesto received a free lifetime supply of sunblock when he won a trivia contest. (B) Sophia broke out in a painful rash when she spread sunscreen on her skin because she is allergic to an ingredient in it. (C) Helen pictures sunblock on her mantle to help her remember to buy some at the store. (D) Lowell feels relaxed when he smells sunblock because it reminds him of his vacations at the beach. (E) Sarah avoids sunblock because people compliment her on her tan when she goes without it.

(D) Lowell feels relaxed when he smells sunblock because it reminds him of his vacations at the beach.

Lynda stayed out past her curfew. As a result, her parents revoked her driving privileges. Which of the following statements is true of Lynda's parents? (A) Lynda's parents are using negative reinforcement to decrease her behavior of staying out past curfew .(B) Lynda's parents are using positive reinforcement to decrease her driving behavior. (C) Lynda's parents are using positive punishment to increase her good behavior. (D) Lynda's parents are using negative punishment to decrease her behavior of staying out past curfew .(E) Lynda's parents are using negative reinforcement to increase her driving behavior.

(D) Lynda's parents are using negative punishment to decrease her behavior of staying out past curfew.

Which of the following scenarios most accurately describes biofeedback? (A) Taneesha became sick after eating funnel cake at the fair, so now she gags every time she smells funnel cake. (B) Rune conditioned his dog to salivate to a buzzer. He then paired the buzzer with a light flash, and his dog eventually began to salivate to the light flash. (C) Julie's employer stopped paying her, so she stopped coming to work. (D) Stacy participated in an experiment in which she wore a heart-rate monitor, watched the readout of her heart rate, and received points based on how many beats per minute she reduced her heart rate. (E) Meike stopped giving her dog treats from the dinner table. Eventually, Meike's dog stopped begging. Two months later, the dog started begging again.

(D) Stacy participated in an experiment in which she wore a heart-rate monitor, watched the readout of her heart rate, and received points based on how many beats per minute she reduced her heart rate.

Which of the following statements is true regarding the application of operant conditioning to learning? (A) Punishment is the most effective way to increase good study habits, because students do not want to get punished. (B) Immediately reinforcing correct responses hurts students' ability to learn new material, because they learn new material better when their correct responses are reinforced later. (C) Negative reinforcement decreases student focus, because students do want to get negatively reinforced. (D) Modeling good study habits enhances student learning, because students benefit from observing others' study habits .(E) Immediately reinforcing correct responses enhances student learning, because immediate reinforcement has shown to be most effective with regard to learning.

(E) Immediately reinforcing correct responses enhances student learning, because immediate reinforcement has shown to be most effective with regard to learning.

Which of the following scenarios demonstrates stimulus generalization? (A) Martin's brother screams at him when he starts to pet a cat, and now Martin is terrified of cats. (B) Tabitha used to be afraid of flying on airplanes, but after flying often for work she is no longer afraid of flying. (C) Craig's fear of public speaking went away after he gave a good presentation last semester, but his fear of public speaking has returned during the current semester. (D) Julia is scared of golden retriever dogs but not Chihuahua dogs. (E) Markus was stung by a wasp, and now he is scared of not only wasps but also bees.

(E) Markus was stung by a wasp, and now he is scared of not only wasps but also bees.

operant chamber

A chamber also known as a Skinner box, containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; Used in operant conditioning research.

problem-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.

The work of ivan pavlov and john watson fits best into which of psychology's perspectives?

Behaviorism

Which of the following best describes negative reinforcement?

Charles smokes because his anxiety is reduced when he does so

Mary is often tired when she wakes up, so she starts drinking coffee every day at 8:00 am, which makes her feel energized. One morning she is coming home from the grocery store she notices the time - it is 8:00 am. She had not wanted coffee before she checked the time, but she suddenly feels tired and craves the drink. Mary's sudden craving for coffee after noticing the time is an example of which of the following?

Conditioned response

Which is the best example of learning? A. A dog salivates when food is placed in its mouth B.A honeybee stings when the hive is threatened C. A child feels ill after drinking sour milk D.A child flinches when he sees lightning because he is afraid of thunder

D. A child flinches when he sees lightning because he is afraid of thunder

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus

A family's uses the microwave to prepare their cat's food. The cat comes running into the room when the microwave timer sounds, but not when it hears the oven timer. The cat is demonstrating ___________

Discrimination

Lynn is teaching learning. every time she claps her hands, charlie turns off the light. when randy claps in approval of lynns presentation, charlie does not turn the light off. what concept has charlie demonstrated?

Discrimination

Lauren is studying for her final exam in her psychology class. For every 45 minutes that she studies, she gives herself a mini doughnut, then goes back to studying. What schedule of reinforcement is Lauren using?

Fixed interval

Tim is a snowboard salesman. For every 15 snowboards he sells, his company gives him a monetary bonus. What schedule of reinforcement describes Tim's bonus arrangement?

Fixed ratio

Students are accustomed to a bell ringing to indicate the end of a class period. the principal decides to substitute popular music for the bell to indicate the end of each class period. students quickly respond to the music in the same way they did to the bell. what principle does this illustrate? a. acquisition b. habituation c. generalization d. functional fixedness e. stimulus

Generalization

Which of the following is best defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience? a. acquisition b. stimulus c. learning d. habituation e. response

Habituation

acquisition

In classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

unconditioned response

In classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US)

positive reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli

negative reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock.

Fixed action patterns are responses to a particular type of stimuli that result from which of the following?

Innate learning

Associative Learning

Learning that certain events occur together.

Type of punishment in which something is taken away in order to stop a behavior from continuing (ex/ taking away car keys)

Negative punishment

Kelly and Jeff live together, and Kelly constantly yells at Jeff to clean his dishes in the kitchen. She tells him that she will stop nagging if he does the chore. He finally cleans the dishes and Kelly, in turn, stops nagging him. As a result, Jeff is more likely to clean his dishes in the future. What is this scenario an example of?

Negative reinforcement

Dr. Soreth is teaching a pigeon to peck a green button. First she reinforces the pigeon for turning toward the green button, then for approaching the button, and so on in very small steps. She does this until the pigeon is successfully and consistently pecking the button. What principle of learning is Dr. Soreth using?

Shaping

Stuart acquires a classically conditioned phobia of ducks. Now he shows a phobic response not just to ducks, but to other birds as well, especially ones that can swim. What are the changes in his phobia an example of?

Stimulus generalization

In a study on observational learning, three groups of nursery children were shown three different video clips. The first showed an adult person punching a blowup clown and being rewarded, the second showed a person punching a blowup clown and being punished, and the last showed a person punching a blowup clown with no rewards or punishment. When left alone with blowup clown later on, the children who had watched the version in which the person received punishment were much less likely to punch the clown compared to children in other groups. According to this passage, which of the following is most accurate?

The consequences of what happened to the person after the punching behavior played a role in the learning of the children.

In an experimental study, a group of people were given information on an individual's performance on Task A (success or failure). The group was also given information regarding the individual's past performances on the same task and other similar tasks. Success rates of other individuals performing the same task were also provided. The group was then asked to judge the impact of internal and external factors in influencing the individual's Task A performance outcomes. Which of the following statement is false?

The results showed that if past performance records were inconsistent, then the group attributed the Task A performance outcomes to the individual's external locus of control. This indicates that the group believed that the individual's ability and effort influenced the performance outcome of Task A.

Dr. Walsh is interested in seeing whether symptoms of depression can be manipulated using principles of classical conditioning. For several weeks of an experiment, he gives a group of patients a sweetened soda that has a mood-enhancing drug in it and notices that symptoms of depression improve significantly. Then, he removes the drug from the beverage and notices that the symptoms are still improved when the patients consume the soda. Which of the following is the conditioned stimulus in Dr. Walsh's experiment?

The sweetened soda

instinctive drift

The tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns

law of effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Dr. Soreth is a behavioral researcher who uses pigeons in her research; she teaches the birds to peck a green button and receive a treat. She wants to try out a new schedule of reinforcement for the pigeons. She wants the birds to peck as much as possible, and to have their pecking behavior occur at a steady rate with very little pausing between responses. Which schedule of reinforcement would be best for her to choose?

Variable ratio

Which of the following strategies describes how a person would extinguish a response using principles of operant conditioning?

Withhold all reinforcement after responses to the stimulus

Preparedness

a biological predisposition to learn associations that have survival value

intrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

extrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Cognitive map

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment

reinforcement schedule

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

high-order conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus

Learning

a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience (learned)

conditioned reinforcer

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer

Insight

a sudden realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

operant conditioning

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli

In classical conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus a. naturally triggers a response b. is a naturally occurring response c. is initially irrelevant, and then comes to trigger a response d. objectively studies psychology e. is pavlovian

a. naturally triggers a response

Cognitive Learning

acquiring mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language

punishment

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

primary reinforcer

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need

shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior closer and closer towards the desired behavior

Classical conditioning is the type of learning in which a person links two or more stimuli and _______

anticipates events

Stimulus

any event or situation that evokes a response

discriminative stimulus

any stimulus that provides an organism a cue for making a certain response in order to obtain reinforcement

In classical conditioning, a person learns to anticipate events by _______

associating two stimuli

emotion-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction

Respondent Behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

Operant Behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences

The purpose of reinforcement is to...

cause a behavior to continue

mirror neurons

frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation and empathy

All of the following are examples of primary reinforcers except a...

high score on an exam for which a student studied diligently

neutral stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

unconditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally (naturally) triggers an unconditioned response.

conditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)

Discrimination

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

conditioned response

in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

variable-ratio schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

variable-interval schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

fixed-ratio schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

fixed-interval schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

Reinforcement

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

law of effect

observational learning

learning by observing others

Latent learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

what do we call the kind of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer?

operant conditioning

personal control

our sense of controlling our environments rather than feeling helpless

Type of punishment in which something is applied/given to you to stop a behavior (ex/ speeding ticket)

positive punishment

prosocial behavior

positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior

partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

continuous reinforcement schedule

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

self-control

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

Extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response

learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

external locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.

internal locus of control

the perception that we control our own fate

Modeling

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

generalization

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

Biofeedback

the use of an external monitoring device to obtain information about a bodily function and possibly gain control over that function

Behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes.

Students are used to a bell ringing to signal class is complete. The principal substitutes the bell for pop music and the students react the same way. The music is a(n)

unconditioned stimulus

Shea bought 10 tickets for the raffle for free homecoming entry, but she did not win. Months later she also buys 10 tickets for the senior prom raffle hoping this will be the time she wins. Which schedule of reinforcement is best used to explain this scenario?

variable ratio