Deck 12: Bfskinner: Reinforcement Theory

Question 1

Skinner described human beings as:

A) empty organisms.
B) having rational thought.
C) genetically bound.
D) ruled by unconscious motivation.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Skinner's childhood was characterized by:

A) sibling rivalry.
B) a strong Oedipus complex.
C) parental warnings that influenced his adult behavior.
D) compensation for physical inferiority.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

At age 22,Skinner experienced:

A) feelings of success and self-esteem.
B) an identity crisis.
C) jealousy of an older brother.
D) a late-blooming Oedipus complex.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Skinner's research interest was in:

A) adult feelings.
B) behavioral responses to stimuli.
C) childhood experiences.
D) identity crises in adolescents.

Question 5

Skinner's treatment of personality is unusual because:

A) he did not look for the causes,motives,and drives within people.
B) he approached personality from a physiological viewpoint.
C) he stressed conscious but not unconscious processes.
D) he emphasized the past and the future.

Question 6

An essential truth about B.F.Skinner's research is that:

A) it is more similar to Adler's than it is to Freud's.
B) it is one that looks inside a person for clues to his or her behavior.
C) it is based on clinical studies of neurotics.
D) it is the antithesis of the psychoanalytic and other approaches.

Question 7

We get a glimpse of Skinner's view that people operate predictably in his childhood interest of:

A) dissecting frogs and other animals.
B) constructing mechanical devices.
C) listening sympathetically to the fears and worries of his young friends.
D) pretending to be a preacher delivering sermons on hellfire and damnation.

Question 8

Skinner was taught by his parents to:

A) think clearly,rationally,and objectively.
B) fear God,the police,and what people think.
C) love,listen,and be creative.
D) be judgmental,serious,and honest.

Question 9

Skinner argued that psychology is the science of:

A) normal adults.
B) conscious processes.
C) individual differences.
D) behavior.

Question 10

Which of the following is true of the application of Skinner's behavioral approach?

A) Till date,it is untried in the real world.
B) It causes significant adverse effects in neurotics and psychotics.
C) It is widely used in schools,correctional institutions,and hospitals.
D) It is more relevant for animals than for humans.

Question 11

The research for Skinner's behavioral approach was conducted on:

A) rats and pigeons.
B) college students seeking to understand the world they live in.
C) troubled people undergoing psychotherapy.
D) chimpanzees and cats.

Question 12

Which of the following did Skinner reject as valid characteristics of personality?

A) Traits
B) Unconscious influences
C) Defense mechanisms
D) All of these are correct.

Question 13

In the fictional society in Skinner's novel Walden Two:

A) punishment is applied only to children.
B) neuroses are treated by psychoanalysis.
C) only group therapy is used to treat neuroses.
D) life aspects are controlled by positive reinforcement.

Question 14

In his early adulthood,Skinner discovered a new identity by:

A) beginning the cognitive revolution.
B) forming the basis of his approach in literature.
C) deciding he would study human behavior by scientific methods.
D) resolving to become an accomplished writer of non-fiction.

Question 15

Skinner's experiences as an adult such as visiting a cathedral and taking care to avoid stepping on the gravestones set in the floor made it clear to him that his adult behaviors had been determined by _____ he experienced as a child.

A) the sexual conflicts
B) the identity crisis
C) the unconscious complexes
D) the reinforcements

Question 16

Skinner believed that behavior can be controlled by:

A) its consequences.
B) social learning.
C) respondent conditioning.
D) the reinforcement that precedes the behavior.

Question 17

Skinner believed that physiological processes are:

A) irrelevant for mental activities.
B) less important than conscious processes.
C) only relevant for the lower needs.
D) highly important as the foundation of behavior.

Question 18

When a specific stimulus elicits a response,it is called:

A) operant conditioning.
B) fixed-interval reinforcement.
C) respondent behavior.
D) extinction.

Question 19

Which of the following is a true statement about B.F.Skinner?

A) He denied the existence of internal forces that direct behavior and development.
B) His study of behavior incorporated psychoanalytic and humanistic approaches.
C) His work rendered all previous personality theories obsolete.
D) He made no reference to internal,subjective states to account for behavior.

Question 20

Skinner argued that psychologists must restrict their investigations exclusively to:

A) overt responses made by a subject.
B) sexual and aggressive conflicts.
C) future goals and aspirations.
D) lower and higher needs.

Question 21

When placed in a Skinner box,a rat is active,sniffing,poking,and exploring its environment,displaying behaviors that are _____.

A) emitted
B) elicited
C) respondent
D) extinguished

Question 22

Slot machines operate on a _____ reinforcement schedule.

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

Question 23

To condition a dog to salivate,Pavlov:

A) recreated its keeper's footsteps after the dog smelled food.
B) rang the bell shortly before the dog smelled food.
C) rang the bell after the dog smelled food.
D) recreated its keeper's footsteps before the dog smelled food.

Question 24

Skinner's term for voluntary,spontaneous behavior is:

A) respondent behavior.
B) operant behavior.
C) fixed behavior.
D) extinguishable behavior.

Question 25

An employee paid on a weekly basis operates under a _____ schedule of reinforcement.

A) continuous
B) fixed-ratio
C) fixed-interval
D) positive

Question 26

In Skinner's experiment with a rat,the _____ becomes the reinforcer for the behavior of depressing the bar.

A) electric shock
B) food
C) Skinner Box
D) experimenter

Question 27

The shaping of behavior is accomplished by:

A) reinforcing whenever possible.
B) reinforcing only successive approximations of the final behavior desired.
C) punishing any behaviors other than the desired final behavior.
D) extinguishing competing behavior.

Question 28

Which of the following does Ivan Pavlov's classical conditioning involve?

A) Substituting one stimulus for another
B) Elimination of conditioned responses
C) Respondent behavior that is unlearned
D) All of these are correct.

Question 29

In a fixed-interval reinforcement schedule,if the interval between presentations of reinforcers is shortened the response rate will:

A) extinguish.
B) increase.
C) decrease.
D) remain the same but extinction will take longer.

Question 30

The successive approximation method:

A) was developed by Pavlov.
B) is an example of variable-ratio reinforcement.
C) is successful with animals but not humans.
D) is also called shaping.

Question 31

When Skinner withheld the reinforcers for rats in a Skinner box continuously,the rats:

A) looked for food elsewhere in the box.
B) ran wildly around the box.
C) eventually stopped pressing the lever.
D) did nothing.

Question 32

Shaping a behavior that is not likely to occur spontaneously is accomplished by:

A) self-actualization.
B) successive approximation.
C) variable-interval reinforcement.
D) accident or luck.

Question 33

In his famous salivating dog experiment,Ivan Pavlov demonstrated that:

A) animals other than humans can exhibit higher intelligence.
B) learning primarily depends on the internal state.
C) reinforcement is necessary for learning.
D) all animals are governed by the laws of operant behavior.

Question 34

In Skinner's research,food-deprived rats pressed a lever to receive a food pellet.The rat will eventually press the lever:

A) and receive an electric shock.
B) at a decreasing rate.
C) because its behavior is under the control of the reinforcers.
D) because its actions become more random.

Question 35

Skinner believed that respondent behavior:

A) produces a change in the organism's environment.
B) must occur before reinforcement can occur.
C) is emitted in the absence of a stimulus.
D) does not account for all human behavior.

Question 36

Which of the following is true of operant behavior according to Skinner?

A) It involves emitted,not elicited,responses.
B) It is modified by the reinforcement that follows the behavior.
C) It produces a change in the organism's environment.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 37

Skinner believed that personality is a(n):

A) network of respondent behaviors.
B) enduring,unique cluster of reinforcements.
C) pattern or collection of operant behaviors.
D) set of traits determined by past reinforcements.

Question 38

A good example of a variable-ratio schedule of reinforcement is:

A) weekly pay.
B) piece-rate pay.
C) fishing.
D) state lottery.

Question 39

According to Skinner,parental disapproval of a child's behavior will:

A) foster the child's hostility and aggression.
B) inhibit the child's tendency to self-actualize.
C) lead to the cessation of that behavior.
D) reinforce the behavior.

Question 40

In fixed-interval reinforcement,_____.

A) rats press the lever very rapidly when reinforcements are extinguished
B) the response rate declines when the interval between reinforcements is shortened
C) the frequency of reinforcers had no effect on how quickly the responses extinguished
D) the timing of the reinforcement is unrelated to the number of responses

Question 41

According to Skinner,most operant conditioning applications involve:

A) both punishment and positive reinforcement.
B) extinction.
C) positive reinforcement.
D) both positive and negative reinforcement.

Question 42

To Skinner,self-control means:

A) the conscious control of internal behavior.
B) positively reinforced behaviors.
C) control over the variables that determine behavior.
D) will power that has been conditioned.

Question 43

In the token economy experiment,psychotic patients:

A) became less dependent and more responsible.
B) were released from the hospital within a month.
C) developed insight into their unconscious motivations.
D) displayed dramatic changes in their superego.

Question 44

For changing behavior from undesirable to desirable,Skinner believed that punishment is:

A) more effective than positive reinforcement.
B) as effective as negative reinforcement.
C) less effective than extinction.
D) often ineffective.

Question 45

On the issue of free will versus determinism,Skinner believed people function:

A) in accordance with inner being.
B) by genetic factors.
C) like machines.
D) by unconscious conflicts.

Question 46

Which of the following is true of functional analysis?

A) It is used to assess behavior.
B) It involves the reinforcement associated with the behavior.
C) It does not assess personality.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 47

In the application of Skinner's behavior modification techniques:

A) it is necessary to first assess genetic factors.
B) it is necessary to first assess specific behaviors.
C) it is necessary to first assess parenting style experienced in childhood.
D) it is necessary to first assess childhood memories with dream analysis.

Question 48

Which of the following statements is true of superstitious behavior?

A) It has a functional relation to the reinforcement received when the behavior is displayed.
B) It is learned quickly when the interval between reinforcements is long.
C) It is the result of a behavior being reinforced accidentally.
D) It persists for a very short time-less than an hour on average-in humans.

Question 49

Superstitious behavior is learned quickly when there are:

A) constant reinforcements regardless of outcome.
B) short intervals between reinforcers.
C) animal subjects rather than human.
D) functional relationships between behavior and reinforcement.

Question 50

Behaviors modified in a token economy:

A) usually revert to their original state when tokens are no longer provided.
B) never revert to their original state.
C) remain modified to some degree,even outside the institution.
D) become resistant to partial reinforcement.

Question 51

With positive reinforcement,the environment changes as a consequence of the behavior; in case of negative reinforcement,_____.

A) the unpleasant stimulus will continue even when the subject emits desired response
B) the undesirable behavior will eventually reappear
C) the undesirable behavior will intensify
D) the noxious stimulus will disappear

Question 52

Which one of the following best describes Skinner's view of human nature?

A) We are condemned to a struggle with our inner forces,which we are almost always destined to lose.
B) We are potentially capable of attaining hope,purpose,wisdom,and the other virtues.
C) We are determined by the learning and unlearning of childhood experiences.
D) We are controlled by the environment,but we can control ourselves by changing the environment.

Question 53

When a token economy was instituted in a psychiatric hospital:

A) there was a dramatic increase in appropriate patient behaviors.
B) patient behavior improved but only when staff was watching.
C) initial patient improvements were quickly lost when the novelty wore off.
D) there was no improvement until real money was substituted for the tokens.

Question 54

Skinner suggests all of the following techniques in order to control the external variable that determines our behavior through self-control except:

A) self-administered satiation.
B) aversive stimulation.
C) physical punishment.
D) stimulus avoidance.

Question 55

According to Skinner,negative reinforcement is:

A) same as punishment.
B) less effective than positive reinforcement.
C) more effective than intermittent reinforcement.
D) more successful with neurotics.

Question 56

An example of negative reinforcement is:

A) putting coins in a broken soft drink machine.
B) giving bonuses to workers even when they fail to excel.
C) nagging a spouse to stop smoking.
D) spanking a child to make him or her stop using expletives.

Question 57

Skinner's approach to assessing behavior is called _____ and it involves three aspects of behavior.

A) free association
B) dream analysis
C) projective technique
D) functional analysis

Question 58

Each of the following is a factor in Skinner's functional analysis except:

A) the frequency of the behavior.
B) the situation in which the behavior occurs.
C) the reinforcement associated with the behavior.
D) the motivation behind the behavior.

Question 59

Skinner believed people are not responsible for their actions,because:

A) their instincts of aggression are inborn.
B) they operate in predictable ways,controlled by external variables.
C) the inherent tendency of the human species is selfishness.
D) of the concept of free will.

Question 60

In behavior modification programs,unconscious motivating forces are:

A) brought to the surface.
B) not dealt with.
C) eliminated by negative reinforcement.
D) extinguished.

Question 61

Describe how Skinner's research differed from that of other personality theorists.

Question 62

Skinner believed that valid and replicable results could be obtained without _____ as long as sufficient data were collected from a single-subject under well-controlled circumstances.

A) conditional analysis
B) cognition analysis
C) technical analysis
D) statistical analysis

Question 63

Positive reinforcement does not always work,whereas negative reinforcement is more consistently effective.

Question 64

Operant conditioning is the procedure by which a change in the consequences of a response will affect the rate at which the response occurs.

Question 65

All of the following are criticisms of Skinner's system except that:

A) operant conditioning cannot change behavior.
B) research from pigeons cannot be generalized to humans.
C) it has a deterministic view.
D) it ignores human qualities such as conscious free will.

Question 66

Which of the following approaches of assessing behavior may include quantification of heart rate,muscle tension,and brain waves?

A) Physiological measurement of behavior
B) Self-reports of behavior
C) Direct observation of behavior
D) Analysis of cognitive processes

Question 67

Skinner's research on reinforcement schedules shows that they are effective for controlling,modifying,and shaping behavior.

Question 68

To Skinner,respondent behavior was less important than operant behavior.

Question 69

Slot machines,roulette wheels,horse races,and state lottery games pay on a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement.

Question 70

Skinner used animals rather than people in his research on behavioral responses to stimuli.

Question 71

Skinner's fundamental idea is that the collective unconscious can be set free to increase behavioral responses in the subject.

Question 72

Operant behavior involves a response made or elicited by a specific stimulus.

Question 73

Skinner described self-control as the ability to alter the impact of internal successive approximation.

Question 74

Therapeutic techniques derived from Skinner's research are used in clinical settings to treat a variety of disorders including psychoses,mental retardation,and autism.

Question 75

Persistent behavior that has a coincidental and not a functional relationship to the reinforcement received is called superstitious behavior.

Question 76

A token economy is descriptive of what Skinner believed the country had become in his time.

Question 77

Through the technique of self-administering satiation,we exert control to cure ourselves of bad habits by overdoing the behavior.

Question 78

In the fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement,the reinforcer is presented following the first response that gives the experimenter an average number of responses.

Question 79

Which of the following is true of Skinner in the context of assessment methods?

A) He followed mainstream experimental psychology.
B) He relied primarily on correlation.
C) He preferred the intensive study of a single subject.
D) He used data from the average performance of groups of subjects.

Question 80

Shaping,according to Skinner,is the same thing as respondent behavior,which involves a response made or elicited by a specific stimulus.