Question 1

A rat lives to be roughly 2 years old, and fear conditioning in rats appears to be remembered very well over a period of at least 60 days. They still fear the tone after not hearing it for roughly 10% of their lifespan. Which explanation for forgetting does this observation conflict with most? Justify your answer.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A rat lives to be roughly 2...

Question 2

Because we experience peoples' behavior daily, most students have developed a set of ideas about how people work even before they enter the psychology classroom. This is very different from the situation in other classes, such as organic chemistry, in which the material is presented and learned almost exclusively in the classroom. From what you know about memory, why are students more likely to provide incorrect answers to exam questions in psychology than to those in organic chemistry?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Because we experience peoples' behavior daily, most...

Question 3

What do renewal effects, reinstatement effects, and rapid reacquisition effects have in common, and what do they tell us about the role of memory in learning and performance?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What do renewal effects, reinstatement effects, and...

Question 4

Suppose you have conditioned CSs T and N in Context

Accepted Answer

The answer of Suppose you have conditioned CSs T and...

Question 5

Based on what you know about the development and maintenance of memories, how would you design therapeutic interventions to promote behavioral changes that are resistant to relapse? Explain why your approach might work.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Based on what you know about the...

Question 6

Evaluate the effectiveness of propranolol as a treatment for anxiety that developed in response to a traumatic event. How could it could be useful, and what are the drawbacks of the treatment?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Evaluate the effectiveness of propranolol as a...

Question 7

Memories that have been impaired by reconsolidation blockage caused by a drug can return over time or when the drug is reintroduced just before a test. How might the drug be operating?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Memories that have been impaired by reconsolidation...

Question 8

Many stimuli in our lives are ambiguous, having more than one memory associated with them. Each memory's retrieval depends on other cues to set the occasion for the current meaning. Based on what you know about occasion setting, how might anxiety elicited by a cue mysteriously appear? For example, how might a person who had some bad interactions with dogs be confused by the fact that sometimes dogs make him very nervous, and sometimes they do not?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Many stimuli in our lives are ambiguous,...

Question 9

If an occasion setter is paired with a new target, one that has been the target of a different occasion setter, the first occasion setter tends to transfer its occasion setting ability to the new target. For instance, if a pigeon is exposed to trials in which A sets the occasion for B to be reinforced (A→B+, B‒) and C sets the occasion for D to be reinforced (C→D+, D‒), then A will also function as an occasion setting for D, and C will be an occasion setter

Accepted Answer

The answer of If an occasion setter is paired with...

Question 10

Analyze the renewal effect as an example of occasion setting.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Analyze the renewal effect as an example...

Question 11

You observe Andrew throwing beans at his brother Ivan. His babysitter repeatedly tells him that she will punish him if he throws another bean, but he continues his bean throwing without any consequence. When his mother comes home and has lunch with the three of them, he throws a bean and his mother punishes him immediately. From then on, Andrew does not throw beans when his mother is home. Analyze the associations here that control Andrew. Is there any occasion setting?

Accepted Answer

The answer of You observe Andrew throwing beans at his...

Question 12

In the 1980s a band called Cinderella had a popular song with the verse "Don't know what you got 'til it's gone," reflecting the sentiment that over time we do not recognize that something makes us feel good, until it is gone. Based on what you know about conditioning, what is likely the basis for that feeling?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In the 1980s a band called Cinderella...

Question 13

According to what you have learned about memory retrieval and conditioned compensatory responses, why would it be beneficial for an alcoholic to avoid bars when trying to quit drinking?

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to what you have learned about...

Question 14

Saltine crackers always give you a very dry mouth. One day, you sample some new cinnamon-flavored saltine crackers. Later, the smell and taste of cinnamon make you salivate excessively. Why does that occur? Discuss how the salivation to cinnamon can occur from the perspective of Eikelboom and Stewart's physiological approach to compensatory responding.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Saltine crackers always give you a very...

Question 15

In one class the instructor always presents power point slides with black backgrounds three days before a test. In another class the instructor presents similar looking slides the day before a test. In a third class the instructor presents similar slides at the beginning of a class in which a test has been scheduled for the second half of the class. Assuming that associations can be learned in all three of these situations, what would the instructor have had to do, from a behavior-systems approach, to predict the types of behaviors that the power point presentation will elicit?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In one class the instructor always presents...

Question 16

The term "memory reactivation" refers to
A) retraining procedures that restore the forgotten memory.
B) retraining procedures that change the original meaning of the forgotten memory.
C) procedures that facilitate retrieval of the forgotten memory.
D) a memory that occurs inappropriately and is no longer triggered by a specific CS.

Accepted Answer

Memory reactivation refers to processes or procedures that facilitate the retrieval of forgotten memories, rather than changing their meaning or being associated with inappropriate triggers.

Question 17

Which term refers to a situation in which memories may be forgotten because recently learned memories block or conflict with access to older memories?
A) Retroactive interference
B) Proactive interference
C) Encoding failure
D) Trace decay

Accepted Answer

Retroactive interference occurs when newly learned information interferes with the recall of information learned previously. This phenomenon explains how recent memories can block or conflict with the retrieval of older memories.

Question 18

In the first training phase of a study, a rat is trained to expect food whenever a light flashes. In a second training phase, the rat receives food whenever the left key light is illuminated but no food when the right key light is illuminated. The rat has some difficulty learning the association in the second training phase, likely because of
A) retroactive interference.
B) proactive interference.
C) encoding failure.
D) trace decay.

Accepted Answer

Proactive interference occurs when older memories interfere with the acquisition of new memories. In this case, the rat's previous learning (expecting food whenever a light flashes) is interfering with its ability to learn the new association (food is only provided when the left key light is illuminated, not the right).

Question 19

Kevin likes to study chemistry while listening to his favorite band on his iPod. When he goes to take his first chemistry exam, he finds that his professor does not allow students to listen to their iPods while taking the test. During the test Kevin has difficulty remembering some of the chemistry information he studied, likely because of
A) proactive interference.
B) retroactive interference.
C) trace decay.
D) retrieval failure.

Accepted Answer

Kevin's difficulty in remembering the chemistry information can be attributed to retrieval failure, specifically the context-dependent memory effect. This phenomenon suggests that recall is better when the contexts at encoding (studying) and retrieval (taking the test) are similar. Since Kevin studied while listening to music and couldn't do so during the exam, the change in context may have hindered his ability to retrieve the studied information.

Question 20

Which of the following is least likely to be the cause of forgetting?
A) Encoding failure
B) Proactive interference
C) Retroactive interference
D) Retrieval failure

Accepted Answer

Encoding failure refers to the brain's inability to create a memory link because the information was never encoded properly in the first place. This means it's not a matter of forgetting something that was successfully stored in memory, but rather that the information was never effectively stored. Proactive interference, retroactive interference, and retrieval failure all directly relate to the loss or difficulty in accessing information that has been encoded and stored in memory, making them more directly associated with the process of forgetting.

Quiz 5: What Ever Happened to Behavior Anyway