Question 1

Which one of the following statements most accurately describes intermittent reinforcement?

Accepted Answer

Intermittent reinforcement occurs when a particular response is reinforced on some occasions but not on others. This can lead to a stronger and more persistent behavior than continuous reinforcement.

Question 2

Ms.Hernandez is concerned about Brian, a student in her high school chemistry class who rarely interacts with other students.Ms.Hernandez decides to smile at Brian on those occasions when she happens to notice him talking with another student.Yet after three weeks she sees little change in his behavior.Based on this information, which one of the following is definitely wrong with Ms.Hernandez's approach?

Accepted Answer

Intermittent reinforcement would not be the issue here, as it can actually be quite effective in establishing behaviors. The problem lies elsewhere in the approach or the assumptions about Brian's motivations or the effectiveness of a smile as a reinforcer.

Question 3

Mr.Johnson wants a hyperactive boy to be able to sit quietly for at least 15 minutes at a time.To do this, he begins praising the boy for sitting still for one minute, then for two minutes, and then only for four minutes, and so on.Mr.Johnson's strategy reflects which one of the following concepts?

Accepted Answer

Shaping is a behavioral technique used to teach new behaviors by reinforcing successive approximations of the desired behavior. Mr. Johnson's strategy of initially praising the boy for sitting still for one minute, then for two minutes, and gradually increasing the time interval reflects shaping. The goal is to ultimately shape the behavior of sitting still for at least 15 minutes at a time.

Question 4

Warren has earned himself a reputation for being the class clown.His teacher, Ms. Washington, used to laugh at Warren's funny remarks but is now trying to discourage Warren's disruptive behavior by ignoring his jokes.In spite of Ms.Washington's attempts to ignore Warren, Warren sometimes tells a joke so funny that Ms.
Washington laughs in spite of herself.Rather than decreasing his joke telling, Warren begins telling even more outrageous jokes.Inadvertently, Ms.Washington is modifying Warren's joke-telling behavior through:

Accepted Answer

Ms. Washington is inadvertently reinforcing Warren's behavior by laughing at his jokes, even if it's only occasionally. This intermittent reinforcement, especially when it follows more outrageous jokes, shapes Warren's behavior to tell even more outrageous jokes, making it an example of shaping. Shaping involves reinforcing behaviors that are increasingly closer to a desired behavior.

Question 5

John and Bill have both learned that when they whine and complain, their teacher will hurry over to see what's wrong.John's teacher gives him attention every time he complains.However, Bill's teacher gives him attention only on some of the occasions he complains.Both teachers eventually realize that they are reinforcing inappropriate behavior, and so they both stop attending to the boys when they whine and complain.From a behaviorist perspective, we can predict that:

Accepted Answer

John's behavior was reinforced on a continuous schedule (every time he complained, he received attention), which tends to lead to quicker extinction (decrease in behavior) once the reinforcement stops. Bill's behavior was reinforced on a partial or intermittent schedule (only sometimes receiving attention), which typically leads to more persistent behavior that extinguishes more slowly.

Question 6

Mr.Richards gives his class fifteen minutes of free time whenever at least 95% of the class gets a passing grade on a test.Mr.Richards is using:

Accepted Answer

Mr. Richards is using a group contingency, as the reward is based on the performance of the entire group rather than individual performance.

Question 7

Which one of the following statements best illustrates the process of cueing acceptable behaviors?

Accepted Answer

This statement sets a clear expectation for behavior and provides a positive consequence for following that expectation. By cueing students to sit quietly, they are more likely to behave in the desired manner in order to be the first ones dismissed.

Question 8

Which one of the following best describes shaping?

Accepted Answer

Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior, gradually guiding the behavior towards the desired terminal response. In other words, the behavior being reinforced changes over time so that it increasingly resembles the desired behavior. Choice A describes the concept of strengthening reinforcement, not shaping. Choice B describes the concept of fading reinforcement, not shaping. Choice D describes a different type of reinforcement, praise, and does not accurately describe shaping.

Question 9

A teacher wants to encourage her students to work cooperatively with one another as they study classroom subject matter.If she wants to use the concept of a setting event to encourage such cooperative behavior, she might:

Accepted Answer

Providing instructional materials that students can use only by working together creates a setting event that promotes cooperative behavior. The students will be motivated to work together to access the instructional materials, and in doing so they will learn and reinforce the skills of cooperative learning. The other options may provide positive reinforcement for cooperative behavior after it has already occurred, but they do not create a setting event to encourage such behavior in the first place.

Question 10

Three of the following teacher behaviors illustrate cueing as a way of dealing with inappropriate behavior.Which one does not illustrate cueing?

Accepted Answer

Cueing involves non-verbal or subtle verbal signals to indicate that a behavior needs to change, without directly confronting or punishing the student. Options B, C, and D all involve such signals (moving closer, gesturing for quiet, and glaring, respectively). Option A, putting a student in time-out, is a direct form of discipline rather than a cue.

Question 11

Sean is a high school student who seems angry most of the time.He often vents his anger by swearing at his teacher.One day his teacher decides to extinguish Sean's swearing by ignoring him whenever he swears.Yet over the next few weeks, Sean continues to swear as frequently as he always has.Three of the following are possible explanations as to why Sean's swearing is not decreasing.From a behaviorist perspective, which one is not a likely explanation based on this information?

Accepted Answer

The Premack Principle suggests that a more probable behavior can reinforce a less probable one. In this context, it doesn't directly explain why ignoring Sean's swearing doesn't reduce the behavior. The other options (A, C, D) are consistent with behaviorist explanations for the persistence of behavior despite attempts to extinguish it.

Question 12

Three of the following statements are consistent with the textbook's recommendations regarding the effective use of reinforcement.Which statement is not consistent with the textbook's recommendations?

Accepted Answer

The textbook recommends using different reinforcers for different students based on individual preferences and interests, rather than using the same reinforcer for everyone. This helps to ensure that the reinforcement will be effective for each student.

Question 13

Leonard rarely says nice things to anyone else.Using behaviorist terminology, we can say that:

Accepted Answer

The term "baseline" refers to the frequency or intensity of a behavior before an intervention or change in the environment occurs. In this case, Leonard's baseline for saying nice things to others is very low, meaning he rarely engages in this behavior. This suggests that he may need some intervention or training to increase this behavior.

Question 14

Ms.O'Connor reinforces James every time she sees him reading independently.Once he is reading frequently, she begins to reinforce him only every second time, then only every third time, and so on, gradually reinforcing him less and less often.From a behaviorist perspective, we can predict that Jimmy will:

Accepted Answer

Ms.O'Connor is using a technique called "shaping" to gradually reduce the reinforcement given to James for reading. This technique is used to encourage and maintain a behavior. Since James has already developed the behavior of reading independently, it is likely that he will continue to do so even with less frequent reinforcement. Therefore, the best choice is A-Continue to read independently.

Question 15

Caleb continually blurts out the answers to Mr.Karowski's questions, to the point that other students rarely have a chance to respond.Mr.Karowski decides to ignore Caleb's behavior, hoping that it will decrease if he doesn't pay attention to it.Mr.Karowski is applying the behaviorist principle of in his treatment of Caleb.

Accepted Answer

Mr.Karowski is applying the principle of extinction by not reinforcing Caleb's behavior with attention. This means that Caleb's behavior will eventually decrease over time as it is no longer being rewarded.

Question 16

Sharon has learned that her language arts teacher is happy to answer her questions but that her biology teacher discourages questions.Sharon therefore asks questions in language arts but not in biology.In behaviorist terminology, Sharon is:

Accepted Answer

Sharon's behavior of asking questions in one subject but not in another shows discrimination, as she is able to differentiate between the two teachers' attitudes towards questions.

Question 17

Oliver tells a tasteless joke at a party and gets a big laugh.The next day, he tells the same joke in class, thinking people will laugh.Instead, his teacher takes him aside after class and gives him a stern lecture about why he should not say such things about a particular ethnic group.In behaviorist terminology, we could say that Oliver:

Accepted Answer

Generalization is the tendency to respond in a similar way to stimuli that resemble the original stimulus. In this case, Oliver generalized the positive response he received at the party to the classroom setting, where the context and audience were different.

Question 18

A physics teacher wants her students to work on several difficult physics problems that involve calculating velocity, acceleration, or time using the formula v = a x t.The teacher first has her students work on a few easy problems involving the formula.She then presents the more difficult problems; when she does so, she finds that her students are reasonably persistent in working at the problems, and most of her students eventually solve them correctly.By using the easy problems to promote persistence in her students during the more difficult ones, the teacher is, in behaviorist terminology, using the concept of:

Accepted Answer

The concept of using easier problems to promote persistence in working on more difficult ones is called behavioral momentum. This refers to the idea that the reinforcement history and level of response momentum in a behavior can affect how persistent an individual will be in continuing to engage in that behavior when they encounter obstacles or difficulties. By starting with easier problems, the teacher is building up the students' level of response momentum and increasing the likelihood that they will persist in working on the more difficult problems.

Question 19

Which one of the following examples best illustrates the concept of baseline as behaviorists use the term?

Accepted Answer

Baseline refers to the frequency or rate at which a behavior occurs before any intervention or manipulation takes place. In this scenario, Justin's talking in class is a behavior that is occurring regularly and consistently without any external encouragement. This represents his baseline behavior.

Question 20

At the beginning of the school year, Mr.Webber is concerned that Frances rarely does her independent seatwork.He begins praising Frances for each seatwork assignment she completes, and by January she is completing her assignments regularly.To make sure that the behavior continues in the years to come, what would behaviorists tell Mr.Webber to do now?

Accepted Answer

Behaviorists would suggest using intermittent reinforcement instead of continuous reinforcement. This means that Frances should not be praised every single time she completes an assignment, but rather praised for some of the completed assignments. This will help ensure that the behavior of completing seatwork continues even when praise is not given every time.

Quiz 9: Behaviorist Views of Learning