Deck 5: Learning and Cognition

Question 1

When considering animals that are very different from us, insects, for example, most people tend to

A) anthropomorphize.
B) assume they think like we do.
C) attribute a high level of cognitive ability to them.
D) discount their mental abilities.

Answer 1

discount their mental abilities.

Question 2

A change in behavior resulting from _______ would qualify as an example of learning.

A) fatigue
B) maturation of the nervous system
C) practicing the behavior
D) all of the above

Answer 2

practicing the behavior

Question 3

We need to describe learning as a change in the probability that a certain behavior will occur because learned behaviors

A) are always performed immediately.
B) are not directly observable.
C) may not be performed every time the opportunity presents itself.
D) all of the above.

Answer 3

may not be performed every time the opportunity presents itself.

Question 4

A type of learning in which an animal learns not to respond to a stimulus (or stimuli) is known as

A) classical conditioning.
B) facilitation.
C) habituation.
D) summation.

Question 5

Habituation occurs

A) primarily in simple organisms such as clamworms and crabs because it is such a simple form of learning.
B) primarily in moderately complex organisms such as birds and fish because it allows conservation of energy in moderately complex environments.
C) primarily in complex mammals, including humans, because it allows attention to be focused on the most important aspects of a complex environment.
D) throughout the animal kingdom because it accomplishes all of the aforementioned functions.

Question 6

In Clark's 1960 research with the clamworm (Nereis pelagica), repeated presentations of a shadow stimulus resulted in a continual decline in the worms' withdrawal escape response. Clark knew that the clamworms had habituated because

A) the clamworms' muscles had become fatigued.
B) the clamworms would still withdraw in response to being prodded.
C) the effects lasted for only a few seconds.
D) the clamworms' sense organs became adapted to the stimulus

Question 7

Habituation is believed to be an adaptive process because it

A) conserves energy levels so that responses to repetitive stimuli can be made more quickly.
B) keeps the individual calm and relaxed so it is less easily distracted.
C) leads to a state in which the animal is more readily operantly conditioned.
D) saves the individual time and energy, without diminishing its responsiveness to important stimuli.

Question 8

Habituation may occur within the context of interactions within a species, for example, territorial behavior. Which of the following statements regarding habituation is TRUE?

A) Aggressive responses decline toward familiar territorial neighbors over time, but the territory owner will still respond aggressively toward unfamiliar intruders.
B) Many territory owners increase their aggressive responses toward familiar neighbors over time.
C) The "dear enemy" phenomenon appears to be an artifact of the artificiality of playback experiments.
D) unfamiliar intruders to an animal's territory generally elicit little response.

Question 9

Habituation has proven to be a very useful tool for studying cognitive processes in nonverbal subjects, such as animals and human infants. This is because it allows the experimenter to know if the subject can

A) be taught the difference between a UCS and a CS.
B) detect the difference between two stimuli.
C) figure out indirect routes to a goal.
D) learn difficult goal-directed behaviors.

Question 10

In Pavlov's experiment in which both a bell and meat powder came to elicit salivation, the meat powder is call the _____ and the bell is the _____.

A) conditioned stimulus; conditioned response
B) conditioned stimulus; unconditioned stimulus
C) unconditioned stimulus; conditioned stimulus
D) unconditioned stimulus; unconditioned response

Question 11

A classically conditioned response is built upon a previously existing response known as a(n)

A) conditioned stimulus.
B) conditioned response.
C) unconditioned stimulus.
D) unconditioned response.

Question 12

If a CS is presented repeatedly without being re-paired with the UCS the result will be

A) extinction of the CR.
B) extinction of the UCR.
C) frustration produced by an unreliable signal.
D) latent learning.

Question 13

Karen Hollis (1984) has demonstrated that male blue gouramis (Trichogaster trichopterus) that have been classically conditioned to a signal that predicts an encounter with a rival

A) are less successful in aggressive contests but recover once the effects of the conditioning have worn off.
B) are more successful in aggressive contests and maintain their advantage in later contests.
C) are more successful in aggressive contests but may lose their advantage in later contests.
D) produce results that depend on whether or not a gravid female is present.

Question 14

Male blue gouramis (Trichogaster trichopterus) that had been conditioned to associate a light with the imminent appearance of a rival

A) approached the territorial border quickly with fins relaxed.
B) bit their opponents less often than their opponents bit them.
C) delivered more tailbeats than did their opponents.
D) tended to have reduced androgen levels.

Question 15

When Karen Hollis (1997) conditioned a male blue gourami (Trichogaster trichopterus) to expect the arrival of a female, the male

A) bit the female more often than did an unconditioned male.
B) spent more time threatening the female and less time nest-building.
C) was less likely to attack the female when she approached.
D) was slower to spawn than an unconditioned male.

Question 16

Male field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) trained to associate distinctive environmental cues with the presence of a male competitor

A) produced larger spermatophores in the presence of a topographical cue and also in the presence of a scent cue.
B) produced larger spermatophores in the presence of a topographical cue but smaller spermatophores in the presence of a scent cue.
C) produced smaller spermatophores in the presence of a topographical cue and also in the present of a scent cue.
D) produced smaller spermatophore in the presence of a topographical cue but larger spermatophores in the presence of a scent cue.

Question 17

Takeda (1961) demonstrated that a honey bee would rapidly learn to extend its proboscis in the presence of an odor when the odor is presented in conjunction with sucrose. Extending the proboscis when presented with the odor alone is an example of a(n)

A) CR.
B) CS.
C) UCR.
D) UCS.

Question 18

Which of the following statements about the apparatus known as the Skinner box is FALSE?

A) An appropriate response allows the subject to escape.
B) An appropriate response often provides the subject with a food reward.
C) Data collection in the Skinner box is almost entirely automated.
D) The Skinner box was developed several decades after Thorndike's puzzle box.

Question 19

Pressing against a horse's ribcage with your legs until he begins to walk forward is an example of

A) negative punishment.
B) negative reinforcement.
C) positive punishment.
D) positive reinforcemnt.

Question 20

Negative reinforcement produces a(n) _____ in response rate.

A) decrease
B) increase
C) plateau
D) unpredictable change

Question 21

Extinction, in operant conditioning,

A) is brought about by withholding reinforcement.
B) requires punishers to reduce the rate of responding.
C) requires the presentation of an inhibitory stimulus.
D) results in an increase in responding.

Question 22

Which of the following terms is closest in meaning to the word "shaping" as it is used in operant conditioning?

A) cumulative record
B) extinction
C) schedule of reinforcement
D) successive approximations

Question 23

If you are just beginning to train your dog to sit on command, you should use a(n) ______ reinforcement schedule.

A) continuous
B) fixed ratio
C) interval
D) variable ratio

Question 24

Once you have your dog trained to sit on command, you will want to put her on a(n) _____ reinforcement schedule in order to maintain the response even if it is not reinforced every time.

A) continuous
B) extinction
C) fixed ratio
D) variable ratio

Question 25

Metzgar (1967) released pairs of white-footed mice into a room with a screech owl. One of the pair had been given the opportunity to explore the room for a few days before the experimental session. The other mouse had no prior experience in the room. On 13 of the 17 trials, the owl caught a mouse. Only two of these were from the group that was familiar with the room. These results provide evidence for

A) insight learning.
B) latent learning.
C) rule learning.
D) social learning.

Question 26

In latent learning, the subjects learn

A) an important new skill, even if they don't have the opportunity to perform it right away.
B) how to share important information with conspecifics through coded signals.
C) important characteristics of the environment even during unrewarded explorations.
D) which conspecifics to attend to as models for appropriate responses in the future.

Question 27

Galef (1990) demonstrated that an "observer" rat would show a preference for a novel food if the novel food had also been eaten by a "demonstrator" rat. It was clear that this happened because of "stimulus enhancement," however, rather than by means of observation and imitation because the demonstrator rat was

A) anesthetized.
B) dead.
C) in the cage with the observer rat.
D) its mother.

Question 28

Dawson and Foss (1965) taught budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) one of three techniques for opening a food dish: using their feet, pecking with their bills, or pulling with their bills. Other budgies watched a particular demonstrator open a dish. When presented with a similar dish, the observer budgie

A) invented its own technique for opening the dish.
B) served as a model for the next observer budgie.
C) used the same technique it had witnessed earlier.
D) was equally likely to use any of the three techniques.

Question 29

Dawson and Foss (1965) taught budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) one of three techniques for opening a food dish: using their feet, pecking with their bills, or pulling with their bills. Other budgies watched a particular demonstrator open a dish. When presented with a similar dish, the observer budgie used the same technique it had witnessed earlier. The observer budgie was displaying

A) goal-directed emulation.
B) imitation.
C) latent learning.
D) stimulus enhancement.

Question 30

Animal X observes a conspecific obtain a desirable food item from a box, using a particular technique. When provided with an opportunity to obtain food from an identical box, Animal X directs attention to the same areas of the food box that the demonstrator conspecific had, but uses a different technique to open the box. Animal X is displaying

A) goal-directed emulation.
B) imitation.
C) latent learning.
D) stimulus enhancement.

Question 31

Which of the following statements about social learning is FALSE?

A) All individual members of the population are probably capable of learning appropriate responses on their own.
B) Most types of learning can occur only in groups.
C) Social learning is generally a safer way to learn about the world than is individual learning.
D) Social learning is more efficient than individual trial-and-error learning.

Question 32

Socially learned behaviors that spread through a group and are stable over time are often referred to as

A) conditioned responses.
B) emulations.
C) imos.
D) traditions.

Question 33

Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) were artificially selected on the basis of having formed an association between either pineapple or orange flavors and quinine. After 15 generations, flies from selected lines were able to learn the task faster than control flies. What was it, specifically, that they were learning "faster"?

A) to identify odors of fruits suitable for egg laying, as long as the task continued to involve the original pineapple and orange flavor.
B) to identify odors of fruits suitable for egg laying, but only for the orange flavor, i.e., the ability to form an association with pineapple disappeared over generations.
C) to identify odors of fruits suitable for egg laying, but only for the pineapple flavor, i.e., the ability to form an association with orange disappeared over generations.
D) to identify odors of fruits suitable for egg laying, including novel flavors, such as apple and tomato.

Question 34

Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) that had been forced to use their ability to learn, i.e., that had been selected for generations for their learning ability

A) had fewer offspring than flies that had not undergone selection.
B) had the same number of offspring as flies that had not undergone selection.
C) had more offspring than flies that had not undergone selection.
D) had varying numbers of offspring. There was no consistent effect.

Question 35

Learning has its costs as well as its benefits. Which of the following would NOT be considered a cost of learning.

A) An animal can adjust to situations to which its ancestors were never exposed.
B) Collecting, processing, and storing information requires energy.
C) Learning a new response takes time.
D) Neurons must be dedicated to the task of learning.

Question 36

Clark's nutcrackers live in high elevation forests and survive winters almost entirely on stored seeds. Pinyon jays live in lower elevation woodlands, with 70% - 90% of their winter diet coming from cached seeds. For scrub jays, about 60% of their winter diet is comprised of cached seeds. When tested in a lab for spatial memory, how did the different species perform?

A) Clark's nutcrackers and pinyon jays scored significantly higher than scrub jays.
B) Clark's nutcrackers scored significantly higher than pinyon jays and scrub jays.
C) Scrub jays scored significantly higher than Clark's nutcrackers and pinyon jays.
D) All three groups scored equally well.

Question 37

Clark's nutcrackers live in high elevation forests and survive winters almost entirely on stored seeds. Pinyon jays live in lower elevation woodlands, with 70% - 90% of their winter diet coming from cached seeds. For scrub jays, about 60% of their winter diet is comprised of cached seeds. When presented with a non-spatial task based on color, how did the different species perform?

A) Clark's nutcrackers and pinyon jays scored significantly higher than scrub jays.
B) Clark's nutcrackers scored significantly higher than pinyon jays and scrub jays.
C) Scrub jays scored significantly higher than Clark's nutcrackers and pinyon jays.
D) All three groups scored equally well.

Question 38

Crows and ravens have demonstrated a wide variety of tool using behaviors. That many of those behaviors involve "insight" is suggested by

A) some of the ravens performing a behavior that is not normally performed in the wild.
B) some of the ravens performing a correct response even though no other bird in the group had performed the behavior.
C) some of the ravens solving the problem immediately without going through a learning process.
D) Each of the above offers support for "insight."

Question 39

The subject looks at the lure, then slowly scans along the horizontal features of the potential route. If the route ends, the subject turns back to look at the lure again, and repeats the scanning process. The subject being described in this study was a

A) canary.
B) jumping spider.
C) quail.
D) tree squirrel.

Question 40

Pepperberg (1994) has shown that Alex, an African grey parrot, can correctly report, for example, the way in which a green, wooden triangle and a blue, wooden triangle differ from one another. These experiments suggest that at least some nonprimates may be able to acquire

A) concepts.
B) contingencies.
C) insights.
D) operants.

Question 41

Experiments on pigeons (Columba livia) have shown that they are able to form concepts such as

A) "paintings by Monet" vs. "paintings by Picassso".
B) "people".
C) "water".
D) all of the above.

Question 42

Placing a harmless, odorless mark to some area of the face, and placing food behind a barrier so that only one of two animals can see it are techniques that have been devised to measure an animal's ability in

A) number sense and abstract concepts.
B) insight learning.
C) self-recognition and perspective taking.
D) social learning.