Question 1

Yasmin has always gotten people's attention by acting "silly," but she wants to get out of this habit. So, she practices intelligent but interesting "starter" conversations to keep people's attention. Yasmin is using which strategy for breaking a bad habit?

Accepted Answer

Yasmin is using the strategy of alternate responses by replacing her habit of acting "silly" with the practice of initiating intelligent but interesting conversations. This approach involves adopting a different, more positive behavior in place of the undesirable one.

Question 2

When trying to change a bad habit, if a person were to finally discover what is reinforcing an unwanted response and then remove, avoid, or delay the reinforcement, we would say this person has utilized the technique known as

Accepted Answer

Operant extinction involves reducing the frequency of an unwanted behavior by removing the reinforcement that is maintaining the behavior. By discovering and then removing, avoiding, or delaying the reinforcement for a bad habit, a person is effectively using operant extinction to decrease or eliminate that habit.

Question 3

David is a recovering alcoholic. He has not had a drink in eight months. David has avoided parties where alcohol is served, found new friends who do not drink and stayed away from bars. Of the strategies listed in your text for breaking a bad habit, David is using the one involving

Accepted Answer

David is using the strategy involving cues and antecedents by avoiding situations and environments (parties, bars) and people (friends who drink) that could trigger his desire to drink alcohol. This approach focuses on removing or avoiding the triggers that lead to the unwanted behavior.

Question 4

Choosing a target behavior, recording a baseline, establishing goals, choosing reinforcers, recording progress, rewarding progress, and adjusting one's plan are the steps making up a procedure known as

Accepted Answer

Behavioral self-management involves a systematic approach to changing one's own behavior, which includes identifying the behavior to change, recording the current level of the behavior (baseline), setting specific goals, selecting appropriate reinforcers to motivate change, monitoring progress, rewarding improvements, and adjusting the plan as needed to ensure success.

Question 5

The first step in using "behavioral self-management" is to

Accepted Answer

The first step in behavioral self-management is to choose a target behavior. This involves identifying a specific behavior that you want to change or improve.

Question 6

Tomas and Eric have developed a habit of hanging out in each other's offices when they want to take a break from work. However, these breaks have increasingly gotten longer because they enjoy talking. Recently, they have had to take more work home to finish plus got the "evil eye" stare from the boss several times. Tomas and Eric have decided to only see each other at lunch and after work and to not go to each other's offices unless it's work related. By doing this, Tomas and Eric have removed the reinforcement for hanging out at the office and also increased their productivity during working hours. This strategy for breaking bad habits is known as

Accepted Answer

Tomas and Eric have implemented the strategy of extinction by removing the reinforcement (enjoyable breaks in each other's offices) that was encouraging their habit of taking long breaks, thereby reducing the behavior over time.

Question 7

Which of the following involves listing how much time you currently spend performing the specific activity or counting the number of desired or undesired responses you make each day?

Accepted Answer

Recording a baseline involves noting the current state or frequency of a behavior before any intervention is applied. This can include tracking how much time is spent on an activity or counting the occurrences of a specific behavior to understand its initial level.

Question 8

When April is stressed and wants to relax, she has always reached for a glass of wine. However, she wants to break this use of alcohol as a means of relaxation, so she learns stress management techniques and now uses them when she feels stressed. April is using which strategy for breaking a bad habit?

Accepted Answer

April is using alternate behaviors as a strategy for breaking her bad habit by replacing the act of reaching for a glass of wine with stress management techniques when she feels stressed.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT a step in the behavioral self-management program discussed in your textbook?

Accepted Answer

The correct steps in a behavioral self-management program typically include choosing a target behavior, recording a baseline, and adjusting the plan as necessary. Choosing reinforcing and punishing self-statements is not a standard step in such programs; instead, the focus is often on more tangible reinforcements or adjustments to strategies based on observed outcomes.

Question 10

Sheng wants to cut down on smoking. So, he removes ashtrays, matches, and extra cigarettes from his house and office, keeping them only in the car. Of the strategies listed in your textbook for breaking a bad habit, Sheng is using the one involving

Accepted Answer

Sheng is altering the environmental cues and antecedents that trigger his smoking habit by removing items associated with smoking from his immediate surroundings, making it less convenient to engage in the habit.

Question 11

Mei always seems to be a late for work because she spends so much time drinking coffee and reading the paper that she has to rush through her shower and picking an outfit. So, she has decided to drink her coffee while selecting her clothes, then take a shower, and, if any time remains, she will have a second cup of coffee and read the paper. Mei is utilizing the strategy that involves

Accepted Answer

Mei is breaking up the response chain of drinking coffee, reading the paper, and then showering. By drinking her coffee while selecting her clothes, she is breaking up the chain and making it less likely that she will continue to the next step of reading the paper.

Question 12

Most nights Demarius comes home from work, turns on the TV, and eats a whole bag of cookies or chips. He then takes a shower and changes clothes. By supper time, he has lost his appetite. Demarius realizes he is substituting junk food for supper. For instance, he could shower immediately when he gets home or avoid turning on the TV until after supper. Demarius will be utilizing the strategy that involves

Accepted Answer

Demarius is considering breaking up the response chain by changing the sequence of his actions to avoid eating junk food before supper.

Question 13

After playing several hours of violent video games, some children show disinhibition, which means that they

Accepted Answer

Disinhibition refers to the reduction in restraint over behaviors that society typically deems unacceptable. In the context of violent video games, disinhibition can manifest as children acting out in ways they normally wouldn't, due to the normalization of aggressive behavior they've been exposed to in the game.

Question 14

Research has shown that watching a lot of violence on television may cause us to become

Accepted Answer

Research indicates that extensive exposure to violence on television can lead to desensitization, meaning individuals may become less emotionally responsive to violence over time.

Question 15

Monica is engaging in behavioral self-management to eat healthier and lose weight. After she chooses these target behaviors, Monica counts the number of healthy foods and the number of unhealthy foods she is currently consuming each week. Monica is

Accepted Answer

Monica is recording a baseline by counting the number of healthy and unhealthy foods she consumes each week. This step involves measuring the current state of her behavior before implementing any changes or interventions.

Question 16

Which of the following would be LEAST helpful to a self-management program?

Accepted Answer

Maintaining the response chain that preceded the behavior would be least helpful in a self-management program because it does not directly contribute to changing or managing the behavior. Instead, it maintains the status quo, which is often counterproductive in behavior modification. Self-recording, using the Premack principle, and employing a behavioral contract are all active strategies aimed at modifying behavior, making them more useful for self-management.

Question 17

If you try to avoid, narrow down, or remove stimuli that elicit the bad habit, you are breaking this bad habit using the strategy that involves

Accepted Answer

This strategy involves modifying cues and antecedents, which are the triggers or conditions that lead to the unwanted habit. By avoiding, narrowing down, or removing these triggers, you're directly addressing the factors that precede the habit, thereby helping to prevent its occurrence.

Question 18

Violent video games tend to make aggressive behavior more likely because

Accepted Answer

Repeated exposure to violent video games can lead players to learn and practice aggressive behaviors, which may increase the likelihood of them exhibiting aggression in real life.

Question 19

Arnold wants to increase the amount of time he exercises. When he reaches his goal for the first day, he relaxes after exercises and watches an episode of one of his favorite sitcoms while cooling down and drinking water. He does this after every day of exercise. At the end of the week of successful days of exercise, Arnold treats himself to a movie. During this behavioral self-management program, Arnold has set up daily and weekly

Accepted Answer

Arnold has set up daily and weekly reinforcers to increase his exercise behavior. Watching a sitcom episode serves as a daily reinforcer, while treating himself to a movie at the end of a successful week serves as a weekly reinforcer. These rewards are intended to increase the likelihood of the desired behavior (exercising) occurring again.

Question 20

If you want to exercise more, attend more classes, concentrate longer, or read more books, one of the best solutions would be to

Accepted Answer

Behavioral self-management involves techniques and strategies that an individual can use to modify their behavior, making it a suitable approach for achieving goals such as exercising more, attending more classes, concentrating longer, or reading more books.

Quiz 6: Conditioning and Learning