Question 1

In Pavlov's original experiments, dogs were classically conditioned to respond to the ringing of a bell with salivation. According to Robert Rescorla, what had the dogs learned?

Accepted Answer

According to Robert Rescorla, the dogs had learned that the bell reliably signaled that food would follow, which is the essence of classical (Pavlovian) conditioning.

Question 2

Psychologist John Garcia conditioned rats to have a taste aversion to sweet-tasting water by injecting them with a drug that made them ill. Using classical conditioning terminology, what was the conditioned response (CR) in this experimental situation?

Accepted Answer

The conditioned response (CR) in this experimental situation is getting ill in response to the sweet-tasting water. This is because the rats developed an association between the sweet-tasting water and the illness caused by the drug, leading to a learned aversion to the taste of the water.

Question 3

How does the cognitive view of classical conditioning differ from the traditional behavioral perspective?

Accepted Answer

The cognitive view of classical conditioning differs from the traditional behavioral perspective in that it emphasizes the role of mental processes (such as expectation, attention, and perception) in the learning process. In contrast, the traditional behavioral perspective focuses primarily on observable behaviors and the external stimuli and environmental factors that cause them.

Question 4

Bill always starts his day with a cup of strong coffee. When Bill stays overnight at his mother's home, she makes him a cup of coffee when he gets up. Later, he is surprised to discover that his mother's coffee was decaffeinated, because he felt more alert after drinking it. In this example, what are the CS and CR?

Accepted Answer

In this scenario, the CS is the smell and taste of coffee, and the CR is alertness. Although Bill's usual cup of coffee contains caffeine, the fact that he felt more alert after drinking his mother's decaffeinated coffee suggests that the smell and taste of coffee have become a conditioned stimulus that triggers the response of alertness.

Question 5

Katie loves strong coffee and cheerfully admits that she depends on caffeine to help her wake up every day. One morning, her husband serves her two cups of decaffeinated coffee without telling her. Nevertheless, she still feels more alert after drinking the decaffeinated coffee. Katie's alertness after drinking decaffeinated coffee is a(n):

Accepted Answer

Katie's alertness after drinking decaffeinated coffee is a classic example of classical conditioning. She has been conditioned to associate the taste and smell of coffee with increased alertness, regardless of whether or not it contains caffeine. This shows that her response is not due to the actual presence of caffeine, but rather the conditioning associated with the taste and smell of coffee.

Question 6

Which psychologist studied the development of taste aversions, noting how they seemed to violate the basic principles of classical conditioning?

Accepted Answer

John Garcia is the psychologist who studied the development of taste aversions and noted how they violated the basic principles of classical conditioning. He found that animals were more likely to associate sickness with the taste of a food rather than the context or stimuli present at the time of consumption, which goes against the idea of stimulus contiguity in classical conditioning.

Question 7

Your friend Madison became very ill a few hours after eating the fried chicken special in the college cafeteria. Now, Madison feels queasy whenever she smells fried chicken. Having read the learning chapter in your psychology class, you explain that:

Accepted Answer

Madison has experienced a learned taste aversion, which can occur after only one pairing of food and illness. This is a classical conditioning response where the illness becomes associated with the taste and smell of the fried chicken, leading Madison to feel queasy whenever she smells it.

Question 8

Your textbook describes Robert Rescorla's classic experiment involving two groups of rats. One of these groups of rats heard a tone just before each of 20 shocks. The second group of rats experienced the same 20 tone-shock pairings, but also experienced an additional 20 shocks that were not paired with a tone. How did the two groups differ?

Accepted Answer

The rats in the first group developed a stronger association between the tone and the shocks, as they were paired together in every trial. The rats in the second group experienced some shocks that were not paired with the tone, which weakened the association between the tone and the shocks. Therefore, the rats in the first group displayed a much stronger conditioned fear response to the tone than did the rats in the second group.

Question 9

If Robert Rescorla were having a conversation with John B. Watson, what would Rescorla tell Watson?

Accepted Answer

Robert Rescorla's research focused on the role of cognitive processes in classical conditioning, particularly the idea that organisms actively process information about the reliability of a stimulus and determine if the stimulus has predictive value. This is in contrast to John B. Watson's behaviorist approach, which did not emphasize cognition or information processing. Therefore, Rescorla would likely tell Watson about his findings regarding the role of cognitive processes in classical conditioning.

Question 10

Steven Spielberg's classic movie Jaws is a thriller about a great white shark terrorizing tourists at a local beach. For each shark sighting, eerie music began playing just before the shark's appearance. As the unseen shark came closer, the tempo of the music picked up. After the audience experienced this a few times, the sound of the music triggered the emotional reaction of fear in the audience, even if the shark still had not appeared. At that point, fear in response to the sound of the eerie music was a(n):

Accepted Answer

The fear response triggered by the sound of the eerie music is a conditioned response (CR), because it has been learned through classical conditioning. The music has become associated with the appearance of the shark, which originally elicited a natural fear response, and now the music alone is enough to elicit that same fear response.

Question 11

A psychological and/or physiological response to what is actually a fake treatment or drug is called:

Accepted Answer

A placebo response or placebo effect is a psychological and/or physiological response to what is actually a fake treatment or drug. The individual receiving the placebo may experience improvements in their symptoms or condition simply because they believe they are receiving a treatment. This is a well-documented phenomenon in both medical and psychological research.

Question 12

In psychologist Robert Rescorla's classical conditioning experiment, one group of rats experienced a tone just before each of 20 shocks. A second group of rats experienced the same number of tone-shock pairings, plus an additional 20 shocks with no tone. Rescorla found that the rats in the first group showed a much stronger conditioned fear response than the rats in the second group. How did Rescorla explain this finding?

Accepted Answer

Rescorla's findings suggest that the strength of a conditioned response depends on the reliability or predictiveness of the conditioned stimulus (CS). In the first group of rats, the tone was a reliable predictor of the shock, as it always occurred just before the shock. In contrast, the second group of rats experienced shocks with no preceding tone, reducing the reliability of the tone as a predictor of shock. Therefore, the rats in the first group developed a stronger conditioned fear response to the tone-CS than did the rats in the second group.

Question 13

Psychologist John Garcia conditioned rats to have a taste aversion to sweet-tasting water by injecting them with a drug that made them ill. Using classical conditioning terminology, what was the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) in this experimental situation?

Accepted Answer

The unconditioned stimulus (UCS) in this experimental situation was the drug that made the rats ill. This is because the UCS is the stimulus that naturally and automatically elicits a response without any prior learning. In this case, the drug naturally caused the rats to feel ill, without any prior conditioning.

Question 14

In learning theory, the cognitive perspective emphasizes:

Accepted Answer

The cognitive perspective emphasizes the role of mental processes in learning, such as attention, perception, memory, and problem-solving. This perspective views learning as a cognitive activity rather than just a collection of observable behaviors.

Question 15

Identify the learning researcher who said, "The animal behaves like a scientist, detecting causal relations among events and using a range of information about those events to make relevant inferences."

Accepted Answer

Robert Rescorla is credited with saying this quote, which emphasizes the idea that animals (including humans) are active learners who use their observations and inferences to make sense of the world around them. Pavlov and Watson were early behaviorists who focused on simple stimulus-response associations, and while Bandura also believed in the importance of observational learning, his work focused more on the idea of social cognitive theory.

Question 16

Which psychologist proposed a cognitive explanation of classical conditioning?

Accepted Answer

Robert Rescorla proposed a cognitive explanation of classical conditioning, stating that the strength of the association between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli depends on how reliably the conditioned stimulus predicts the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 17

Habitual coffee drinkers often experience an almost immediate sense of alertness when they sip a fresh cup of coffee, even though it takes about 20 minutes for the caffeine in the coffee to reach significant levels in the bloodstream. What is the best explanation for this phenomenon?

Accepted Answer

After repeated pairing with the drug caffeine, the sensory cues associated with coffee (such as its smell and taste) become a conditioned stimulus that elicits the conditioned response of alertness. This means that the brain has learned to associate the act of drinking coffee with feeling more awake and alert, even before the caffeine has had a chance to take effect.

Question 18

The evolutionary approach to classical conditioning emphasizes that:

Accepted Answer

The evolutionary approach to classical conditioning recognizes that an animal's unique characteristics, including their natural behaviors, can affect how easily they can be classically conditioned. For example, a predator may be more likely to learn an association between a certain prey scent and the presence of prey, as this is a relevant and useful association for their survival. Therefore, option A is the correct choice. Options B, C, and D are not reflective of the evolutionary approach to classical conditioning.

Question 19

Ever since she foolishly drank too much beer at a rock concert and vomited all over her boyfriend, Sharon becomes nauseated at the smell or taste of beer. In this example, the conditioned stimulus is _____ and the conditioned response is _____.

Accepted Answer

The conditioned stimulus in classical conditioning is the stimulus that triggers the conditioned response, which is a learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. In this example, the neutral stimulus is the beer, and the unconditioned response is the vomiting. After repeated pairing of the beer with the vomiting, the beer becomes the conditioned stimulus and the nausea becomes the conditioned response. Therefore, the correct choice is D, where the conditioned stimulus is the smell or taste of beer, and the conditioned response is nausea.

Question 20

From the cognitive perspective, classical conditioning:

Accepted Answer

Classical conditioning from the cognitive perspective involves the learner developing an understanding of the relationship between the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). The learner is aware of the information the CS provides about the UCS, leading to the formation of a conditioned response.

Quiz 5: Learning