Module 20: Basic Learning Concepts and Classical Conditioning

In psychology, the term conditioning refers to:

learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses

Watson and Rayner taught Little Albert to fear white rats by:

repeatedly pairing a loud noise with the presentation of a white rat

Jeff's psychology assignment is to observe and list any behaviors of his relatives that indicate learning. Which example should be included on his list?

Jeff's little brother whines whenever he wants something

Which statement does NOT illustrate classical conditioning?

Marcus always pays his cell-phone bill on time in order to avoid a late charge.

After John Watson lost his professorship at Johns Hopkins University, which career did he enter?

advertising

Which example demonstrates that learning has occurred?

avoiding speeding in an area where you received a ticket previously

Five-year-old Arianna is frightened by the noise thunder makes. Arianna associates lightning with thunder because lightning always precedes thunder. Thus, when Arianna sees lightning she often cries in anticipation that she will hear thunder soon afterward. This is an example of _____ conditioning.

classical

Which choice correctly pairs a type of learning or conditioning with a closely related concept?

cognitive learning - observational learning

In Pavlov's experiment with dogs, salivating in response to the tone is called a(n) _____ response.

conditioned

Jonas, a veteran of the war in Iraq, suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder. Now back home in a quiet California neighborhood, he jumps when he hears a firecracker or a car backfire. In the terminology of classical conditioning, these sounds are BEST thought of as _____ stimuli.

conditioned

The process of learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses is called:

conditioning

Sean takes his 1-year-old son James out for a walk. James reaches over to touch a red flower and is stung by a bumblebee sitting on the petals. The next day, James' mother brings home some red flowers. She removes a flower from the arrangement and takes it over for her baby to smell. James cries loudly as soon as he sees it. According to the principles of classical conditioning, what is the unconditioned response in this example?

crying to the bee sting

A year after surviving a shooting, Angie still responds with terror at the sight of toy guns and the sound of balloons popping. This reaction BEST illustrates:

generalization

Jill is learning how to play tennis. For her first lesson, her instructor models serving and backhand returns while Jill patiently watches. Jill then tries to imitate the sequence of swings and motions made by her instructor. Which concept BEST describes how Jill is learning to play tennis?

observational learning

Tamika's cat learned to press a lever so more food would be poured into her food bowl. Tamika's roommate's kitten watched the older cat perform this behavior and within a month the kitten was performing this behavior. This is an example of:

observational learning

If Jamal wants to train his dog to sit and lie down when he commands the behavior, which type of conditioning should he utilize to train his dog?

operant conditioning

Which statement correctly classifies one of the types of learning mentioned in the textbook?

operant conditioning is a type of associative learning

Which idea is NOT one of Pavlov's major contributions to the field of psychology?

that his methods demonstrated the importance of subjective judgments

In classical conditioning, we learn _____; whereas in operant conditioning, we learn _____.

to associate two stimuli and thus to anticipate events; to associate a response and its consequence

Blinking in response to a puff of air directed into one's eye is a(n):

unconditioned response

Researchers conditioned a flatworm to contract when exposed to light by repeatedly pairing the light with electric shock. The electric shock is a(n):

unconditioned stimulus