Question 1

How could extinction be used to eliminate Little Albert's fear of a white rat?

Accepted Answer

Extinction is the process of eliminating a learned behavior by repeatedly presenting the conditioned stimulus (the white rat) without the unconditioned stimulus (the loud noise). By repeatedly exposing Little Albert to the rat without the noise, he may eventually lose his fear of the rat as he learns that it no longer predicts the loud noise. Choice A would only reinforce Little Albert's fear response to the rat, choice B is unlikely to be effective as it does not address the underlying fear association, and choice C is unethical as it involves punishing a child for a natural fear response.

Question 2

_____ activity is a critical underlying mechanism in conditioning responses similar to the one conditioned in Little Albert.

Accepted Answer

The amygdala plays a critical role in the acquisition and storage of fear-based memories, which is what the conditioning of Little Albert was based on. It is responsible for attaching emotional meaning to external stimuli, which can lead to the formation of conditioned responses. The hippocampus is involved in the formation and retrieval of memories, but it is not specifically related to fear-based conditioning. Broca's area is involved in language production, and the motor cortex is responsible for controlling movement.

Question 3

Classical conditioning is to operant conditioning as:

Accepted Answer

Classical conditioning involves learning through association and is a passive process (reactive), while operant conditioning involves learning through consequences and is an active process (active).

Question 4

Research has shown that students led to believe that a lecture will end in a quiz will:

Accepted Answer

Research has found that when students believe that they will be quizzed on a lecture, they engage in less mind wandering and pay more attention during the lecture. This suggests that they are actively trying to retain the information being presented.

Question 5

Jake can make his sister, Joy, give him her toys or candy by whistling. Because she hates the sound so much, Joy will give Jake whatever he wants to make him stop. Jake's whistling is maintained by _____, and Joy's giving is being maintained by _____.

Accepted Answer

Jake's whistling is being maintained by positive reinforcement because Joy giving him toys or candy is a consequence that increases the likelihood of Jake whistling again in the future. Joy's giving is being maintained by negative reinforcement because giving Jake what he wants eliminates the aversive sound of his whistling, which increases the likelihood of Joy giving in to his demands in the future.

Question 6

Joe learns how to make a paper airplane by watching his older brother. He goes to his kindergarten where he makes a paper airplane, and Jenna learns to make one by watching Joe. Jenna goes home after school and plays with her friend Nora. Nora learns to make a paper airplane by watching Jenna. This process illustrates:

Accepted Answer

This illustrates a diffusion chain, which is a process where a behavior is learned by observing and imitating others, leading to a spread of the behavior within a group or community. Each person learns from the previous person in the chain, similar to the way in which Jenna learned from Joe, and Nora learned from Jenna.

Question 7

_____ the delay between a response and a consequence _____:

Accepted Answer

Increasing the delay between a response and a consequence generally weakens the effects of both reinforcement and punishment, making it less likely that the behavior will be repeated or avoided in the future. This is because the association between the behavior and the outcome becomes less clear.

Question 8

Although it is not known if you have to buy 1, 10, or 100 scratch-off lottery tickets to get a winner, it is highly probable that if you just keep buying, eventually you will get a winner. In fact, maybe the very next ticket you buy will be a winner. Buying scratch-off lottery tickets is reinforced according to which type of schedule?

Accepted Answer

Buying scratch-off lottery tickets is reinforced according to the variable ratio schedule, because the reinforcement (winning a prize) is delivered after an unpredictable number of responses (ticket purchases). This schedule is known to result in high rates of responding and resistance to extinction.

Question 9

Angie's angry boss wears a particular type of cologne. One day, Angie was at the mall when she smelled the same cologne. The smell produced a momentary feeling of uneasiness. In this example, what is serving as the unconditioned stimulus?

Accepted Answer

The angry boss is the unconditioned stimulus because it naturally triggers the unconditioned response of uneasiness in Angie.

Question 10

In eyeblink conditioning, a tone is sounded immediately before air is puffed into a participant's eye. After a number of tone-air puff pairings, what is the conditioned response?

Accepted Answer

The conditioned response in eyeblink conditioning is the learned response of blinking when the tone sounds, as the tone has been associated with the air puff.

Question 11

Pavlov's dogs were conditioned to salivate to a 1000-hz tone due to its pairing with food. After this training, it was found that the dogs would salivate to a 900-hz tone but not to a 500-hz tone. Salivating to the 900-hz tone is an example of _____, and not salivating to a 500-hz tone is an example of _____.

Accepted Answer

Salivating to the 900-hz tone is an example of generalization because the dogs are responding to a stimuli that is similar but not identical to the original conditioned stimulus. Not salivating to the 500-hz tone is an example of discrimination because the dogs are able to differentiate between the two stimuli and only respond to the specific conditioned stimulus that was paired with the food.

Question 12

Positive reinforcement involves the _____ of a stimulus when a behavior occurs, and positive punishment involves the _____ of a stimulus when a behavior occurs.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Positive reinforcement involves the _____ of a...

Question 13

A teacher originally wanted to increase class participation, so she positively reinforced question asking with nickels. After a few days, students had stacks of nickels on their desks, and the class was asking far too many questions. The teacher decided things were better off when the students didn't ask so many questions. To reduce question asking, the teacher has several options available to her. She could approach the students' desks and physically remove a nickel from their stacks whenever they ask a question, a process known as _____. Or, she could simply no longer give students nickels when they ask questions, a process termed _____.

Accepted Answer

The teacher initially used positive reinforcement by giving nickels for question asking. The best way to decrease the behavior is to use negative punishment by taking away the nickel (removing a desirable stimulus) or extinction by no longer giving nickels (removing the reinforcing stimulus altogether). Option B correctly identifies these two options in the correct order. Option A incorrectly suggests using extinction first and then negative punishment, while option C suggests using positive punishment, which would involve adding an aversive stimulus to decrease the behavior, which is not desirable in this case. Option D suggests using positive punishment followed by extinction, which is also not the best approach.

Question 14

The idea of _____ suggests that conditioning has an evolutionary perspective, in that certain associations will be more easily learned if they help the organism's survival.

Accepted Answer

Biological preparedness is the idea that organisms are genetically programmed to learn some associations related to survival more readily than others, based on their evolutionary history. This aligns with the notion that certain associations will be more easily learned if they aid in survival, consistent with the principles of natural selection. Implicit learning and enculturation hypothesis are not directly related to this concept.

Question 15

_____ suggested that rats in a maze don't simply produce behaviors in response to stimuli or consequences, but rather develop a _____ of the maze.

Accepted Answer

Tolman was the one who proposed that rats in a maze do not simply form stimulus-response associations, but rather develop a mental representation of the maze, which he called a cognitive map. Thorndike, on the other hand, believed in the law of effect, which states that behaviors that produce desirable consequences are more likely to be repeated, and those that produce undesirable consequences are less likely to be repeated. He also proposed the concept of the latent response, where behaviors learned in one situation can be applied to a new situation but are not immediately expressed.

Question 16

When Jasminda first moved into her apartment, the buzzing noise coming from her refrigerator drove her nuts. Now, after three months, Jasminda doesn't notice the sound because of:

Accepted Answer

Habituation occurs when an organism becomes less responsive to a repeated stimulus over time. In this scenario, Jasminda has become habituated to the buzzing sound of her refrigerator over the course of three months and no longer notices it.

Quiz 7: Section 6: Learning

How could extinction be used to eliminate Little Albert's fear of a white rat?

_____ activity is a critical underlying mechanism in conditioning responses similar to the one conditioned in Little Albert.

Classical conditioning is to operant conditioning as:

Research has shown that students led to believe that a lecture will end in a quiz will:

Jake can make his sister, Joy, give him her toys or candy by whistling. Because she hates the sound so much, Joy will give Jake whatever he wants to make him stop. Jake's whistling is maintained by _, and Joy's giving is being maintained by _.

_ the delay between a response and a consequence _:

Angie's angry boss wears a particular type of cologne. One day, Angie was at the mall when she smelled the same cologne. The smell produced a momentary feeling of uneasiness. In this example, what is serving as the unconditioned stimulus?

In eyeblink conditioning, a tone is sounded immediately before air is puffed into a participant's eye. After a number of tone-air puff pairings, what is the conditioned response?

Positive reinforcement involves the _ of a stimulus when a behavior occurs, and positive punishment involves the _ of a stimulus when a behavior occurs.

The idea of _____ suggests that conditioning has an evolutionary perspective, in that certain associations will be more easily learned if they help the organism's survival.

_ suggested that rats in a maze don't simply produce behaviors in response to stimuli or consequences, but rather develop a _ of the maze.

When Jasminda first moved into her apartment, the buzzing noise coming from her refrigerator drove her nuts. Now, after three months, Jasminda doesn't notice the sound because of: