Question 1

Your friend tells you that "negative reinforcement is a type of punishment." Explain why your friend is VERY WRONG about these concepts by giving the definition and an example of each concept.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Your friend tells you that "negative reinforcement...

Question 2

Which of the following is a system for managing and altering behavior through the immediate reinforcement of selected responses with poker chips or slips of paper that can be exchanged for food and\or special privileges?
A) a time-out system
B) a token economy
C) systematic desensitization
D) an EMDR program

Accepted Answer

A token economy is a behavior management system in which individuals are rewarded for appropriate behavior with tokens (such as poker chips or slips of paper) that can be exchanged for desired items or privileges. This system is often used in clinical settings, schools, and prisons to improve behavior and increase motivation. Time-out is a punishment-based behavior management technique in which an individual is removed from a rewarding or reinforcing environment, while systematic desensitization and EMDR are therapeutic techniques used to treat anxiety and trauma, respectively.

Question 3

Whether we drive our car across an intersection depends on if the traffic light is red or green, which illustrates the principle of __________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Whether we drive our car across an...

Question 4

You are a very good bowler now, but you did not start out that way. Your father reinforced you for each small improvement you made over several months through a process known as shaping.

Accepted Answer

The statement mentions the process of shaping being used to reinforce small improvements over time, indicating a true statement.

Question 5

Every time you give advice to a friend she suddenly turns cold and distant. Lately, you've stopped offering her advice because your advice was negatively punished by rejection.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Every time you give advice to a...

Question 6

Food, water, pain reduction, sex, and brain stimulation have in common the fact that all are __________ reinforcers.
A) primary
B) negative
C) secondary
D) positive

Accepted Answer

Primary reinforcers are those that are necessary for survival and are inherently rewarding, such as food, water, and sex. Pain reduction is also linked to survival as it allows an individual to avoid harm and injury. Brain stimulation is a bit more complex, but it can also be rewarding in terms of providing pleasure or a sense of novelty or challenge. Negative (B) and positive (D) reinforcement refers to the type of consequence that follows a behavior - negative reinforcement occurs when a behavior results in the removal of an unpleasant stimulus (e.g. taking pain medication to reduce discomfort), while positive reinforcement occurs when a behavior results in the addition of a desirable stimulus (e.g. receiving a paycheck for completing a task). Secondary reinforcers (C) are those that are learned to be rewarding through association with primary or other secondary reinforcers.

Question 7

Regarding the experiments using intracranial self-stimulation, which of the following statements is FALSE?
A) When rats self-administer nicotine, they are even more likely to engage in intracranial self-stimulation because nicotine further increases the sensitivity of the pleasure pathways.
B) After the rats had pressed the intracranial self-stimulation lever to exhaustion, they were less likely to press the lever again once they were revived.
C) Intracranial self-stimulation involves electrical stimulation of the limbic system of the brain.
D) Intracranial self-stimulation is considered to be a primary reinforcer.

Accepted Answer

The statement "After the rats had pressed the intracranial self-stimulation lever to exhaustion, they were less likely to press the lever again once they were revived" is false. In fact, once the rats were revived, they would press the lever again at the same rate as before, indicating that the reinforcement value of the stimulation remained unchanged.

Question 8

Compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning, including the nature of the response, the timing of learning, the role of the learner, the nature of the learning, and the learned expectancy for each.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning,...

Question 9

You go through a series of steps in making a six-tier wedding cake with the "oohs" and "ahhs" of the wedding guests and your payment being the reinforcement for the numerous steps you completed in this example of __________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of You go through a series of steps...

Question 10

Which of the following reinforcers are used to provide immediate incentives for learning and to avoid the problem of satiation?
A) tokens
B) candy
C) conditional reinforcers
D) primary reinforcers

Accepted Answer

Tokens are a form of conditioned or secondary reinforcers that can be used to provide immediate incentives for learning without the problem of satiation. Tokens can be exchanged for primary reinforcers such as candy or other tangible rewards. This allows for a continuous supply of reinforcement without the need to constantly provide primary reinforcers, which may lead to satiation or diminishing returns. Additionally, tokens can be used for long-term goal-setting and reinforcement, rather than just providing immediate rewards.

Question 11

Young children may temporarily call all men daddy , much to the embarrassment of their parents, which illustrates operant stimulus __________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Young children may temporarily call all men...

Question 12

A child calls his black cat "Binkie" but does not call other black cats this name, which illustrates operant stimulus discrimination.

Accepted Answer

Operant stimulus discrimination occurs when an individual responds differently to stimuli that are similar but not identical, based on previous experiences of reinforcement or punishment. In this case, the child has learned to associate the name "Binkie" with his black cat, but not with other black cats, demonstrating stimulus discrimination.

Question 13

You may be unaware of some of the reinforcers that are changing your own behavior. In fact, such automatic associative learning is a hallmark of __________ processing.
A) acquisitional
B) intuitive
C) experiential
D) functional

Accepted Answer

Automatic associative learning is a hallmark of experiential processing, which involves learning from direct experience without conscious awareness.

Question 14

We pick up phones that are ringing, but rarely answer phones that are silent, which illustrates the concept of stimulus control.

Accepted Answer

This is because we have learned to associate the ringing sound with the need to pick up the phone, while a silent phone does not have the same strong association. This is an example of stimulus control, where the presence of a particular stimulus (ringing) prompts a particular behavior (answering the phone).

Question 15

Operant conditioning involves voluntary responses being emitted by the animal or person and is also known as __________ learning.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Operant conditioning involves voluntary responses being emitted...

Question 16

The weakening or disappearance of a nonreinforced operant response is called operant __________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The weakening or disappearance of a nonreinforced...

Question 17

If you wear sunglasses to escape the glare of the sun, then you are wearing the sunglasses because of __________reinforcement.

Accepted Answer

The answer of If you wear sunglasses to escape the...

Question 18

A teacher does not respond to the students who call out a question without raising their hands. By withholding her attention from these students who do not raise their hands, she is eliminating this behavior through operant extinction.

Accepted Answer

The teacher is withholding attention (a response) from the students who call out without raising their hands, thus eliminating this behavior through operant extinction.

Question 19

Many studies of operant conditioning in animals make use of an operant conditioning chamber, which was invented by __________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Many studies of operant conditioning in animals...

Question 20

Which type of reinforcers gain their ability to promote learning because they are associated with primary reinforcers or can be exchanged for primary reinforcers?
A) secondary reinforcers
B) stimulus reinforcers
C) higher-order reinforcers
D) negative reinforcers

Accepted Answer

Secondary reinforcers gain their ability to promote learning because they are associated with primary reinforcers or can be exchanged for primary reinforcers. For example, money is a secondary reinforcer because it can be exchanged for primary reinforcers such as food or shelter.

Quiz 6: Conditioning and Learning