Deck 7: Learning and Behaviour

Question 1

__________ is an adaptive process in which the tendency to perform a particular behaviour is changed by experience.

A) Training
B) Learning
C) Responsiveness
D) Shaping
E) Acquisition

Answer 1

Learning

Question 2

__________ is the behavioural change produced by internal changes brought about by learning.

A) Performance
B) An unconditional response
C) Experience
D) Training
E) Shaping

Answer 2

Performance

Question 3

All of the following are considered kinds of learning EXCEPT

A) habituation.
B) classical conditioning.
C) operant conditioning.
D) superstitious behaviour.
E) closed genetic programs.

Answer 3

closed genetic programs.

Question 4

A novel stimulus usually immediately captures our attention. Our response to this stimulus is called a(n) __________ response.

A) habituated
B) operant
C) orienting
D) classically conditioned
E) alarm

Question 5

Suppose that you are in your bedroom studying for a test that you have tomorrow. Somebody in an adjacent room turns the television on. At first you are distracted by the sound coming from it, but before too long you don't even realize that it is still on. You have

A) habituated to the sounds coming from the television.
B) consciously blocked out the sounds.
C) focused intensely on your notes and text.
D) rewarded yourself for studying hard under difficult conditions.
E) displayed selective attention toward your material to be tested.

Question 6

Habituation functions to

A) make us more responsive to novel stimuli.
B) aid us in ignoring unimportant stimuli.
C) enhance our susceptibility to classical conditioning.
D) prevent us from overreacting emotionally to important stimuli.
E) help us respond to an event that occurs repeatedly.

Question 7

Short-term habituation

A) is common in biologically simple organisms.
B) depends on one's memory of previous experiences with the same stimulus.
C) can be retained from day to day.
D) has little, if any, adaptive value.
E) depends on more complex nervous systems.

Question 8

When Wicks & Rankin found that nematoda worms stopped withdrawing in response to repeated taps but still withdrew in response to a heat stimulus, they were demonstrating

A) orienting responses.
B) performance.
C) an unlearned defensive response.
D) short-term habituation.
E) long-term habituation.

Question 9

Which of the following is FALSE regarding long-term habituation?

A) It requires a more complex nervous system than does short-term habituation.
B) It eventually becomes a permanent part of the organism's memory system.
C) It has obvious adaptive value.
D) It occurs only in higher primates, such as humans.
E) The animal learns not to respond to particular stimuli over long periods of time.

Question 10

Through classical conditioning, an organism learns

A) about reinforcing stimuli.
B) how to execute a response to obtain a reinforcer.
C) that some stimuli predict important events.
D) the three-term contingency.
E) about aversive stimuli.

Question 11

Pavlov's early research career focused on the study of the __________ system.

A) cardiovascular
B) urinary
C) respiratory
D) digestive
E) circulatory.

Question 12

Pavlov's original research on glandular secretion headed in a direction that he had not originally intended when he noticed that his dogs

A) began salivating before being fed.
B) would not salivate until they were fed.
C) failed to salivate.
D) salivated every time that they saw him.
E) salivated profusely while being fed.

Question 13

The process by which a response normally elicited by one stimulus comes to be controlled by another stimulus is called

A) operant conditioning.
B) habituation.
C) classical conditioning.
D) vicarious learning.
E) respondent conditioning.

Question 14

Pavlov's first response to his dogs' mysterious salivary response to his laboratory assistant was to

A) ignore it.
B) treat it as a confounding variable.
C) begin experimenting to see what was controlling this behaviour.
D) perform surgery on the dogs to see if physiological variables were causing the excessive salivation.
E) redesign the original experiment to eliminate possible confounds.

Question 15

Pavlov "accidentally"discovered a form of learning in which

A) organisms habituate to unimportant environmental stimuli.
B) a response is acquired through the modeling of that response by another organism.
C) some forms of behaviour produce more rewards than other forms do.
D) the occurrence of one stimulus predicts the occurrence of another stimulus.
E) punishment contingencies are effective ways of controlling behaviour.

Question 16

In Pavlov's original research, the dogs only salivated to the sound of the tone if the

A) tone followed the food powder.
B) tone was extremely loud.
C) food powder was presented soon after the tone.
D) tone and the food powder were presented at the same time.
E) tone was heard 30 seconds prior to the food powder being presented.

Question 17

In classical conditioning, the stimulus that naturally elicits the reflexive behaviour is called the __________ stimulus.

A) unconditional
B) conditional
C) discriminative
D) signaling
E) initial

Question 18

In classical conditioning, another term for reflexive behaviour is

A) operant.
B) conditional response.
C) unconditional response.
D) conditioned response.
E) orienting response.

Question 19

Any neutral stimulus paired with a stimulus such as food that elicits a response is called a(n) __________ stimulus.

A) unconditional
B) discriminative
C) orienting
D) conditional
E) Pavlovian

Question 20

As a result of classical conditioning, the __________ gradually comes to elicit the __________.

A) UCS; UCR
B) UCS; CR
C) CS; UCR
D) CS; CR
E) UCS; CS

Question 21

When Colin was young he was stung by a bee and had a severe allergic reaction. Now, many years later, whenever he hears a buzzing sound (including when people imitate a buzzing sound), he becomes nervous and panics. In this example, the unconditional stimulus is

A) the bee.
B) the severe allergic reaction.
C) the buzzing sound.
D) Colin's reacting nervously and panicking.
E) people imitating a buzzing sound.

Question 22

A chewing gum manufacturer has a widespread TV advertising campaign that show beautiful people consuming their product. Having seen these ads over a few weeks, you find yourself attracted to the chewing gum next time you are in a corner store. In this classical conditioning example __________ is the unconditional stimulus.

A) the chewing gum
B) your attraction to the beautiful people
C) the beautiful people
D) your attraction to the chewing gum
E) the chewing gum manufacturer

Question 23

When Colin was young he was stung by a bee and had a severe allergic reaction. Now, many years later, whenever he hears a buzzing sound (including when people imitate a buzzing sound), he becomes nervous and panics. In this example, the conditional stimulus is

A) the bee.
B) the severe allergic reaction.
C) the buzzing sound.
D) Colin's reacting nervously and panicking.
E) the bee sting.

Question 24

A chewing gum manufacturer has a widespread TV advertising campaign that show beautiful people consuming their product. Having seen these ads over a few weeks, you find yourself attracted to the chewing gum next time you are in a corner store. In this classical conditioning example, __________ is the conditional stimulus

A) the chewing gum
B) your attraction to the beautiful people
C) the beautiful people
D) your attraction to the chewing gum
E) the chewing gum manufacturer

Question 25

When Colin was young he was stung by a bee and had a severe allergic reaction. Now, many years later, whenever he hears a buzzing sound (including when people imitate a buzzing sound), he becomes nervous and panics. In this example, the conditional response is

A) the bee.
B) the severe allergic reaction.
C) the buzzing sound.
D) Colin's reacting nervously and panicking.
E) the bee sting.

Question 26

A chewing gum manufacturer has a widespread TV advertising campaign that show beautiful people consuming their product. Having seen these ads over a few weeks, you find yourself attracted to the chewing gum next time you are in a corner store. In this classical conditioning example __________ is the conditional response

A) the chewing gum
B) your attraction to the beautiful people
C) the beautiful people
D) your attraction to the chewing gum
E) the chewing gum manufacturer

Question 27

One reason for the adaptive significance of classical conditioning is that the animal learns

A) to avoid dangerous situations.
B) to behave appropriately if reinforced with positive stimuli.
C) that neutral stimuli have desirable properties.
D) to recognize stimuli that signal important events and to respond fast and effectively.
E) that a CS will follow a UCS and that each is different.

Question 28

The finding that Siamese fighting fish are likely to win a fight if they are first given a warning regarding the presence of an intruder in their territory suggests that

A) aggressive behaviour is learned.
B) even in fish, there is a "home-court."
C) preparation is the key to winning aggressive encounters in the animal world.
D) classical conditioning has important biological functions.
E) operant conditioning has important biological functions.

Question 29

One of important functions of classical conditioning is that

A) the animals makes behavioural associations during the acquisition phase.
B) the learner behaves appropriately if reinforced with positive stimuli.
C) it enables recognition that neutral stimuli have desirable properties.
D) stimuli that signal unimportant events can be ignored.
E) previously unimportant stimuli take on some of the properties of the important stimuli with which they are associated.

Question 30

An example of a stimulus that acquires its desirable properties because of its association with other desirable stimuli is

A) money.
B) food.
C) pain.
D) heat source.
E) hunger.

Question 31

Among the phenomena discovered and first studied by Pavlov are

A) reinforcement, and punishment.
B) performance and habituation.
C) acquisition, extinction and spontaneous recovery.
D) orienting responses and habituation.
E) long-term and short-term habituation.

Question 32

The portion of the classical conditioning experiment in which a conditional response begins to increase in strength is called

A) acquisition.
B) extinction.
C) generalization.
D) discrimination.
E) shaping.

Question 33

In Ward Robinson's study, a light was paired with a sound which pigeons learned was a conditional stimulus (CS) predicting the delivery of grain. The pigeons treated the light as if it

A) had the properties of the UCS.
B) was another CR.
C) had no relationship to the UCS.
D) was unrelated to the CS.
E) had the properties of the UCR.

Question 34

Which two factors influence the acquisition of a CR?

A) UCS intensity and the temporal relationship between the CS and UCS
B) UCS intensity and the strength of responding
C) CS intensity and the temporal relationship between the UCR and CR
D) UCS intensity and the temporal relationship between the CS and CR
E) CS intensity and the temporal relationship between CS and CR

Question 35

If an aspect of a subject's behaviour is first conditioned using a strong unconditional stimulus but later conditioned using a weaker unconditional stimulus, what happens to the conditional response?

A) It increases.
B) It becomes stronger.
C) It becomes weaker.
D) It stays about the same.
E) It increases gradually over time.

Question 36

A dog owner is trying to train his dog to respond to hand signals. He finds that when he speaks to the dog in a loud, firm voice while making the signal the training goes well. In contrast, if his voice becomes quiet and gentle the dog training doesn't seem to be as effective. This is an example of

A) poor reinforcement scheduling.
B) the importance of the intensity of the UCS.
C) habituation to the quieter voice.
D) short-term habituation to a new UCS.
E) the importance of timing in presentation of the UCS and CS.

Question 37

After a response has been conditioned, what would happen if the UCS no longer followed the CS?

A) The response would continue to occur much as it had before.
B) The response would eventually be eliminated.
C) The response would increase in strength.
D) The response would first decrease in strength and then become stronger.
E) The response would first increase in strength and then plateau.

Question 38

The name of the procedure in which the UCS no longer follows the CS is

A) punishment.
B) negative reinforcement.
C) discrimination.
D) extinction.
E) elimination.

Question 39

The optimal timing between the presentation of the CS and the presentation of the UCS in classical conditioning is __________ seconds.

A) 0.25
B) 0.5
C) 1.0
D) 1.25
E) 1.5

Question 40

In general, the __________ the UCS, the __________ the CR.

A) less intense; stronger
B) more intense; weaker
C) more frequent the number of presentations of; weaker
D) more intense; stronger
E) less intense; more frequent the number of presentations of

Question 41

All of the following are classical conditioning procedures that will produce only weak conditioning of the CR, EXCEPT

A) too short a delay between the CS and the UCS.
B) too long a delay between the CS and the UCS.
C) a weak form of the UCS.
D) a UCS that is sometime strong and sometimes weak
E) an intense form of the UCS.

Question 42

Five stimuli are present in a room during a classical conditioning experiment:(1) a tone, which sounds sometimes before the UCS is presented;(2) a bell, which sounds regularly during the experiment;(3) a light, which flickers just before every presentation of the UCS;(4) a beeper, which sounds just after each UCS presentation; and(5) a buzzer, which sounds sometimes after each UCS presentation.Which of these stimuli will most likely come to reliably elicit the CR?

A) the tone
B) the bell
C) the light
D) the beeper
E) the buzzer

Question 43

In classical conditioning, extinction means that the CS

A) is predictive of the occurrence of the CR.
B) elicits responses to similar, but not identical, CSs.
C) no longer predicts the occurrence of the UCS.
D) no longer predicts the occurrence of the UCR.
E) is predictive of the occurrence of the UCS.

Question 44

The cat used to start to purr whenever your family were setting the table for their meal. But since your family decided that you would not give the cat any treats from the table, she has stopped purring. This is an example of

A) spontaneous recovery.
B) generalization
C) discrimination.
D) conditional emotional response.
E) extinction.

Question 45

When the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS, this leads to

A) stimulus generalization.
B) stimulus discrimination.
C) spontaneous recovery.
D) conditional emotional response.
E) extinction.

Question 46

The reappearance of the CR in the next experimental session following a period of extinction is termed

A) generalization.
B) classical conditioning.
C) discrimination.
D) spontaneous recovery.
E) habituation.

Question 47

Spontaneous recovery is said to occur when a

A) previously extinguished CR suddenly reappears after an interval of time has passed.
B) CR is elicited by a stimulus similar to the one used during acquisition training.
C) CR is elicited by one CS but not other (neutral) stimuli.
D) UCR is no longer elicited by the UCS.
E) CR is no longer elicited by the CS but only by the UCS.

Question 48

After a rest period following extinction, a CR will often reappear. This phenomenon is called

A) acquisition.
B) reacquisition.
C) spontaneous recovery.
D) reemergence.
E) extinction.

Question 49

__________ is said to occur when CRs are elicited by stimuli that resemble the CS used during training.

A) Extinction
B) Generalization
C) Spontaneous Recovery
D) Discrimination
E) Habituation

Question 50

Since your dog died you have found tears come into your eyes every time you hear the song "I love that dog"which was always a favourite. But what really surprises you, is that you find tears in your eyes now when any song mentions dogs. In classical conditioning terms this is an example of

A) generalization.
B) a conditional emotional response.
C) discrimination.
D) spontaneous recovery.
E) habituation.

Question 51

Leslie was in a car accident during a rain storm. Now whenever she must drive during the rain, even when it is only a sprinkle, she gets nervous. This response is likely due to

A) discrimination.
B) generalization.
C) spontaneous recovery.
D) extinction.
E) operant conditioning.

Question 52

In classical conditioning, generalization of a response will be greatest to stimuli that

A) most closely resemble the original CS.
B) are the most different from the original CS.
C) occur shortly following the CS.
D) have the greatest resemblance to the UCR.
E) have the least resemblance to the UCR.

Question 53

The appearance of the CR when one CS is presented but not when another stimulus is presented is called

A) extinction.
B) generalization.
C) spontaneous recovery.
D) discrimination.
E) dissociation.

Question 54

Sam bought a new TV. At first, every time a phone rang on the TV Sam got up thinking it was his phone. However, within a couple of weeks this didn't happen at all because he had been through the classical conditioning process of

A) habituation.
B) generalization.
C) spontaneous recovery.
D) discrimination.
E) dissociation.

Question 55

In classical conditioning, a procedure that involves training responses to one stimulus but not to others, even if they closely resemble the original CS, is called

A) discrimination.
B) generalization.
C) spontaneous recovery.
D) extinction.
E) acquisition.

Question 56

Not reacting to the door when the phone rings (but reacting to the phone) and not reacting to the phone when the door bell rings (but reacting to the door bell) are examples of

A) spontaneous recovery.
B) generalization.
C) extinction.
D) discrimination.
E) acquisition.

Question 57

Several years ago you were bitten by a friend's dog. Since then you have been afraid of dogs and other animals that resemble dogs. Your reaction is an example of a(n)

A) innate fear of animals that most people have.
B) classically conditioned emotional response.
C) irrational fear of pain.
D) vivid memory of the dog's attack.
E) operantly conditioned fear of pain.

Question 58

The finding that people's ratings of photographs was affected by associating the photographs with pleasant or unpleasant odours suggests that

A) people's likes and dislikes are innately conditioned.
B) some emotions are irrational.
C) preferences for others may involve classical conditioning.
D) people's fears of others are based on their smell.
E) our odour detection systems are more powerful than we had realized.

Question 59

Phobias may be acquired by

A) associating an object with fear or pain early in life.
B) associating a negative CS with a positive UCS.
C) excessive punishment for voicing one's fears.
D) being deprived of an object that one truly desires.
E) failing to associate a CS with a UCS.

Question 60

A child with a parent who has a phobia of heights may also develop a similar phobia by

A) being punished for climbing a ladder.
B) observing the phobia in the parent.
C) being kept away from high places.
D) being rewarded for not seeking out high places.
E) inheriting a closed genetic program.

Question 61

Classical conditioning will only occur when the

A) subject's behaviour is reinforced.
B) CS reliably predicts the UCS.
C) subject's reflexive behaviour produces the CS.
D) UCS reliably predicts the CS.
E) CS reliably predicts NS.

Question 62

What happens if the UCS is as likely to occur in the presence of the CS as in its absence?

A) The CR will not occur.
B) The CR occurs regularly.
C) The CR occurs sporadically.
D) The CR occurs sporadically at first, then become more consistent.
E) The CR occurs more frequently over time.

Question 63

The prevention of learning that occurs with a neutral CS when it is conditioned in the presence of a previously conditioned CS, is termed

A) inhibitory conditioning.
B) blocking.
C) excitatory conditioning.
D) extinction.
E) attenuation.

Question 64

Blocking occurs because the second CS

A) prevents the first CS from predicting the UCS.
B) provides no additional information in predicting when the UCS will occur.
C) takes over from the first CS as the predictor of the UCS.
D) adds predictive value to the first CS in anticipating the occurrence of the UCS.
E) prevents of occurrence of the UCS after the first CS has appeared.

Question 65

In Hollis and colleagues' study a subordinate gouramis fish learned to show a conditional response to a light that predicted food. When later put into a tank with a dominant gouramis fish, the subordinate fish showed a(n) __________ response to the light.

A) conditional
B) unconditional
C) aggressive
D) excitatory
E) submissive

Question 66

Research indicates that classical conditioning provides two types of information about future events. According to the text, these are

A) the how and the where.
B) the which and the who.
C) the what and the when.
D) the why and the wherefore.
E) the where and the which.

Question 67

A response tendency conditioned to a signal that predicts the absence of the UCS is termed a(n)

A) conditioned emotional response.
B) excitatory conditional response.
C) blocking response.
D) inhibitory conditional response.
E) discriminatory response.

Question 68

A(n) __________ is a response tendency conditioned to a signal predicting that the UCS is about to occur.

A) conditioned emotional response.
B) excitatory conditional response.
C) blocking response.
D) inhibitory conditional response.
E) discriminatory response.

Question 69

The salivation shown by Pavlov's dogs in response to the bell is a typical example of a(n)

A) conditioned emotional response.
B) excitatory conditional response.
C) blocking response.
D) inhibitory conditional response.
E) discriminatory response.

Question 70

The acquiring or changing of an organism's actions because of the consequences produced by those actions is called

A) classical conditioning.
B) operant conditioning.
C) observational learning.
D) habituation.
E) Pavlovian conditioning.

Question 71

The psychologist who is formally credited with discovering what is now known as operant conditioning is

A) Ivan Pavlov.
B) Edward Thorndike.
C) B. F. Skinner.
D) John Garcia.
E) John B. Watson.

Question 72

The main subjects in Thorndike's research were

A) dogs that salivated.
B) rats that escaped electric shock.
C) pigeons that pecked lighted disks.
D) cats that escaped puzzle boxes.
E) rats that pressed a bar for food pellets.

Question 73

Responses tend to be repeated if, in the past, they produced satisfying outcomes. This statement captures the essence of

A) the law of effect.
B) classical conditioning.
C) insight learning.
D) habituation.
E) evolution.

Question 74

Thorndike found that the animals in his research

A) learned to escape confinement almost immediately after each session started.
B) had difficulty learning to escape at first, but then, in a flash of insight, learned to do so.
C) gradually took less and less time to escape as the experiment progressed.
D) only learned to escape confinement with great difficulty.
E) were not able to learn how to escape confinement.

Question 75

__________ is to members of a species as __________ is to responses.

A) Natural selection; classical conditioning
B) Natural selection; law of effect
C) Evolution; operant conditioning
D) Evolution; law of effect
E) Evolution; classical conditioning

Question 76

The law of effect functions to produce natural selection of

A) species.
B) individuals.
C) stimuli.
D) learning.
E) responses.

Question 77

A line of research that explores the relationship between behaviour and the environment are known as

A) behaviour analysis.
B) law of effect.
C) operant chamber.
D) vicarious learning.
E) successive approximation.

Question 78

The device invented by Skinner in which an animal's behaviour can be controlled, manipulated, and recorded is the

A) puzzle box.
B) shuttle box.
C) operant chamber.
D) radial arm maze.
E) cumulative recorder.

Question 79

Skinner introduced a number of innovations in the research on behaviour analysis, including

A) the puzzle box.
B) the operant chamber.
C) the cumulative recorder
D) the law of effect.
E) both the cumulative recorder and the operant chamber.

Question 80

The dependent variable in most operant conditioning studies is

A) the number of errors made by the subject.
B) response rate.
C) response latency.
D) choice.
E) response accuracy.