chapter 6 psychology study guide
Lenny cannot reach the bathroom shelf where his father keeps the electric toothbrush, but he continues trying, day after day. After seeing his brother use a stool to open the kitchen cupboards, Lenny pushes the stool into the bathroom and uses it to finally get the toothbrush. How would Lenny's behavior be classified by learning theorists?
Lenny has learned how to reach the bathroom shelf through associative learning.
Which statement best sums up the role of stimulus discrimination and stimulus control in operant conditioning?
People can learn to distinguish the situations in which a certain behavior will be rewarded.
Which statement about cultural differences in scholastic achievement is true?
The significance of cultural differences in learning and teaching is not yet clear.
Any response made to a specific stimulus, if followed by a reward, will be more likely to occur again in the presence of the same stimulus. According to your text, this is the law of ____.
effect
Gretchen absolutely loves going to school. Her teacher uses enjoyable teaching methods, such as small-group problem-solving tasks, discussion of mini-essays written in class, and short review sessions of the previous half hour of class. Gretchen's teacher is obviously taking a(n) ____ approach.
active learning
Jane has just begun teaching Psychology 100 and wants her students to participate during class. She hopes that discussing the material, doing writing tasks, and working in small groups will help her students understand the material better. Jane is attempting to use ____ in her class.
active learning
Tim doesn't want to run into his ex-girlfriend on campus, so he changes the route that he used to take to get to class when he sees her. The first day this occurs, Tim does not run into his ex-girlfriend. Tim ends up using this route for a month because he fails to run into her. Tim has learned through ____ conditioning.
aviodance
Jon eats a hamburger that is contaminated with nasty bacteria. While eating the burger, Jon is watching an episode of the television show Small Wonder. Jon soon develops an aversion to hamburgers, but not to the television program, primarily because of ____.
biopreparedness
Roxanne loves eating at her favorite restaurant, Peppers. One night, she meets some friends atPeppers and then goes to see the movie Fight Club.Shortly afterwards, she becomes violently ill. After this incident, while Roxanne still enjoys watching Fight Club, she no longer enjoys eating at Peppers. This is an example of ____.
biopreparedness
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 ____.
classical; conditioned stimulus
Shamir reflexively kicks his leg when the doctor taps him on the knee. Then, the doctor begins saying the word "Help" and then tapping Shamir on the knee. After forty-five trials of first saying "Help," followed immediately by tapping the knee, on the forty-sixth trial, Shamir kicks his leg after hearing the word "Help." In this example, the word "Help" is the ____, and Shamir kicking his leg in response to the word "Help" is the ____.
conditioned stimulus; conditioned response
Extinction will be most rapid after a history of ____ reinforcement.
continuous
When administering punishment, it is least effective for the punishment to be ____.
delayed, allowing the child to reflect on her behavior prior to punishment
Winston turns the water off in the shower when he hears someone flush a toilet so he will not get scalded. However, he does not do this when he hears someone turn on the bathroom sink faucet because he knows it will not scald him. This is because of stimulus ____.
discrimination
Martina's upstairs neighbors play their stereo loudly. Martina hates loud music and has found that if she bangs on the ceiling with a broom, they turn the volume down. Now, as soon as the loud music starts, Martina bangs on the ceiling and it is muted. This is an example of ____.
escape conditioning
Whenever Calvin throws his sister's doll in the toilet, his mother locks Calvin in his room. As soon as Calvin apologizes, his mother lets him out. Eventually, Calvin learns to apologize immediately, so that he can get out of his room sooner. Calvin is demonstrating ____.
escape conditioning
It has been rumored that campus parking enforcement officers receive a $10 bonus for every twenty tickets they write. An unnamed campus parking administrator has remarked off the record, "This ____ schedule of reinforcement keeps our officers diligent and busy."
fixed-ratio
In an experiment, a flash of light is paired with a mild electric shock to a subject's finger. After several trials, the subject begins to pull the finger away after seeing the flash of light. The experimenter then begins to present just the flash, but with no shock. After several trials of the latter, the subject will ____.
gradually cease pulling his finger away after the flash of light
Neural network models predict that the weaker the connection between two items, the ____ in connection strength when they are experienced together.
greater the increase
As the months pass, Kurt begins taking more and more heroin as each dose doesn't seem to give him the same high. Eventually, Kurt is addicted to heroin. According to opponent-process theory, ____ may be the basis of Kurt's dangerous addiction.
habituation
Nic is terrified of going to the dentist office because of the discomfort and pain he has experienced before. The last time Nic had a tooth pulled, he locked his eyes onto his dentist's white coat. Now when Nic sees someone in a white coat, he becomes afraid because the white coat predicts the experience of pain. This example best demonstrates ____.
higher-order conditioning
While camping, Ben attempts to put up a new tent. He forgot to bring the instructions and is having some trouble. He tries to put it together twice, but some pieces are left over and the tent quickly falls down. Confused, he stands staring at the tent stakes, poles, ropes, and tarps. Then, all of a sudden, through ____, he figures out the problem and sets up the entire tent in five minutes.
insight
Cindy has taken the bus to and from school for the past three weeks. Today, however, she misses the bus and has to walk. Cindy has never had to walk to school before, but she makes it to school without a single wrong turn. This demonstrates ____.
latent learning
Mike loves Q-Mart and shops there often. One day, another customer asked Mike if he knows where turkey basters are in the store. Mike immediately gives directions to the exact aisle, even though he has never looked for turkey basters himself. Mike has displayed ____.
latent learning
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 becomes lost but is able to escape the forest using her father's technique. This best demonstrates ____.
latent learning
Jerome tries to please his parents by always being good, but whenever Jerome's older brother, Tom, misbehave, their parents punish both Tom and Jerome. Jerome soon stops trying to please his parents because he doesn't think it will make any difference. This change in Jerome's behavior is an example of ____.
learned helplessness
A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge due to experience is known as ____.
learning
Chris does not like it when his infant son, Jacob, cries. Chris finds that if he makes goofy faces while Jacob is crying, Jacob will stop. Which learning principle best explains why Chris is more likely to make goofy faces in the future to make Jacob stop crying?
negative reinforcement
It's a very hot summer day and Ai is sweating in her apartment. She turns on the air conditioning and right away, her apartment gets cooler. The fact that Ai is now more likely to turn on the AC when she is hot to reduce her discomfort illustrates ____.
negative reinforcement
Lavonne despises"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 stop. This is an example of ____.
negative reinforcement
The association between media violence, including violence on television and aggressive behavior, is often attributed to ____ learning.
observational
Kelly watched her mother get ready for work; Kelly's mother put on makeup and fixed her hair. Then, Kelly's mother left the room and told Kelly to get ready for school. Kelly began to imitate her mother by smearing makeup on her face and fluffing her hair. This is an example of ____.
observational learning
When Imelda was young, she was fascinated by shoe commercials on TV. She was particularly impressed by how happy people seemed to be when buying shoes. As an adult, Imelda goes shopping for shoes every chance she gets. This is an example of ____.
observational learning
Roslyn always used to shop at Penney's because for every purchase over $20, she would get a 10 percent discount. But since Penney's stopped offering this promotion, Roslyn has stopped shopping there. Her shopping behavior is best explained by ____.
operant conditioning
Continued gambling behavior is best explained in terms of which process of learning?
partial reinforcement
You buy a new car that always starts instantly on cold mornings (continuous reinforcement). It suddenly fails one time, and you immediately call a service station. Suppose, however, that your car often gives you trouble on cold mornings (variable reinforcement). It is likely that you will try to start the car several times before calling a service station due to the ____ effect.
partial reinforcement
One of the most difficult problems for any teacher is a child who consistently disrupts class. Researchers have shown that giving attention in the form of scolding to a disruptive child actually increases the child's misbehavior. In the terms of operant conditioning, the scolding is a ____.
positive reinforce
Two-year-old Hannah says the word hell in the middle of dinner, and her parents immediately stop talking to each other and scold her. They spent the rest of the meal paying close attention to what Hannah said. Later, Hannah says hell repeatedly, and each time, her parents spend time talking to her and paying attention to her. In this situation, the parents' attention is a ____ and Hannah's inappropriate language is a(n) ____.
positive reinforcer; operant
Fred has decided to learn to play the harmonica. To learn this skill most efficiently, Fred should adopt an approach that emphasizes ____.
practice
Dr. Evil presents the sound of a buzzer to his pet rabbit, and he follows it with the delivery of a small electric shock. After repeated pairings of the buzzer and shock, the rabbit learns to fear the sound of buzzers. Dr. Evil then proceeds to extinguish the rabbit's fear of buzzers. Now suppose that, after extinction, Dr. Evil decides to present the buzzer and shock to the rabbit once again. After only a few pairings, the rabbit will demonstrate ____ and fear the buzzer again.
reconditioning
Lois and Peter want to teach Brian, their dog, to fetch the newspaper. Lois aims to encourage Brian's behavior when he brings in the newspaper. Peter's goal is, instead, to discourage Brian's behavior when he brings in a stick. Lois will most likely use ____, and Peter will most likely use ____.
reinforcers; punishment
Tyrell wants to teach his two daughters, Sarah and Mia, to practice their golf swings every day. Each time after Sarah finishes practicing, he gives her $5, and each time after Mia finishes practicing, he gives her a handful of her favorite candy pieces. Sarah is receiving a __________ reinforcer, and Mia is receiving a __________ reinforcer.
secondary; primary
The police blocked off the road in Carole's neighborhood that she usually uses to get home from work, so Carole used the next quickest route. Carole easily found the different route because ____.
she had developed a cognitive map
A dog in a classical conditioning experiment salivates to a continuous buzzer but not to a single bell ring. This is an example of ____.
stimulus discrimination
Talon drinks one too many cans of "Jooky" last night. Talon spent the morning vomiting, and now even the smell of Jooky makes Talon nauseous. Talon is experiencing a ____, which can best be explained by ____ conditioning.
taste aversion; classical
Rosie and Ginny decide to eat at a restaurant. When they arrive, they are greeted promptly by the hostess. The waiter is efficient and the food is fantastic! They are likely to return to the restaurant because their decision to eat there was followed by a satisfying experience. This example best illustrates ____.
the law of effect
Learned helplessness involves learning that ____.
there is no relationship between one's behaviors and their consequences
When an organism uses insight, it ____.
thinks through possibilities, then reaches a sudden understanding
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 begins to eat bananas and throw the peels away. Kong has learned this through ____.
vicarious conditioning
Rob watches his sister, Kathryn, being punished for "smarting off" to their mom. Rob learns that he should never "smart off" to his mom, due to ____.
vicarious conditioning
