B.F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning

Question 1

_ _ involved an automatic response to a stimulus

Answer 1

Classical conditioning

Question 2

_ _ involves learning how to control one’s response to a elicit a reward or avoid a punishment

Answer 2

Operant conditioning

Question 3

In operant conditioning, the _ controls his or her response

Answer 3

subject

Question 4

Skinner used a process called _ to teach the rats to press the bar for food

Answer 4

shaping

Question 5

The food in the rat case is referred to as a _, since it reinforces the rat’s behavior of stepping closer to and eventually pressing the bar

Answer 5

reinforcement

Question 6

In a - schedule, behavior is reinforced after a set number of responses

Answer 6

fixed-ratio

Question 7

- is when reinforcement is provided after a variable number of responses

Answer 7

Variable-ratio

Question 8

- when reinforcement is based on a time schedule

Answer 8

Fixed-interval

Question 9

- when reinforcement is provided from time to time at a variable rate but is not dependent on how many times the rat pressed the bar

Answer 9

Variable-interval

Question 10

When does the animal press the bar at a slow but steady rate since it has no idea how long it has to wait for it’s reward?

Answer 10

Variable-interval

Question 11

What is an innately reinforcing stimulus like food or drink?

Answer 11

Primary reinforcer

Question 12

What is a learned reinforcer that gets its reinforcing power through association with the primary reinforcer?

Answer 12

Conditioned or secondary reinforcer

Question 13

Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Answer 13

Reinforcement

Question 14

Removing an unpleasant reinforcer

Answer 14

Negative reinforcement

Question 15

Introducing an unpleasant stimulus or withholding a pleasant stimulus

Answer 15

Punishment

Question 16

Punishment usually leads to what 6 negative effects?

Answer 16

1. Unwanted fears
2. No information
3. Justifies pain to others
4. Unwanted behaviors reappear
5. Causes aggression towards the agent
6. Unwanted behavior replaces the old behavior

Question 17

The operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior towards the desired target behavior through successive approximations

Answer 17

Shaping

Question 18

A reinforcer that occurs instantly after a behavior

Answer 18

Immediate reinforcer

Question 19

A reinforcer that is delayed in time for a certain behavior

Answer 19

Delayed reinforcer

Question 20

Reinforces the desired response each time it occurs

Answer 20

Continuous reinforcement

Question 21

Reinforces a response only part of the time

Answer 21

Partial reinforcement

Question 22

The desire to perform a behavior for its own sake

Answer 22

Intrinsic Motivation

Question 23

The desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishments

Answer 23

Extrinsic Motivation

Question 24

Which psychologist did the experiment with the Bobo dolls?

Answer 24

Bandura

Question 25

The adult was praised and received treats at the end of the film; he was rewarded for his aggressive behavior toward the Bobo doll

Answer 25

Aggression-rewarded

Question 26

The adult was punished by being called a bully, swatted, and made to cower

Answer 26

Agression-punished

Question 27

The adult was neither rewarded nor punished for his aggressive behavior toward the Bobo doll

Answer 27

No consequences

Question 28

Children in the - group expressed the fewest aggressive behaviors toward the Bobo dolls

Answer 28

Aggression-Punished

Question 29

Children in the other 2 groups expressed an equal number of aggressive behaviors and were more aggressive than children in the - group

Answer 29

Aggression-Punished

Question 30

Researchers observed their behavior and found that the children who had watched the - and the _ _ films were equally likely to behave aggressively toward the Bobo doll

Answer 30

Aggression-Rewarded

No Consequences

Question 31

When were all 3 groups equally aggressive?

Answer 31

When they were promised rewards

Question 32

Who did experiments on dogs?

Answer 32

Seligman

Question 33

Thought dogs would learn to _ shock

Answer 33

Avoid

Question 34

Dogs placed in harness and given _

Answer 34

Shocks

Question 35

_ _ research in the late 1960’s addressed the question of how we react to repeated and unavoidable shocks or torture

Answer 35

Martin Seligman’s

Question 36

Seligman studied the ability of dogs to learn _ _ when given an electric shock

Answer 36

Avoidance Behaviors

Question 37

He placed dogs into harnesses (much as Pavlov had done) then gave them a series of shocks paired with a _ _ (also similar to Pavlov’s experiment)

Answer 37

Conditioned Stimulus

Question 38

He gave the _ no opportunity to escape the shock

Answer 38

Dogs

Question 39

Seligman next placed the same dogs into boxes that allowed them to escape the shock by jumping over a _

Answer 39

Hurdle

Question 40

Seligman named his discovery _ _, because the dogs had apparently learned that they had no control over their situation

Answer 40

Learned Helplessness

Question 41

Even when they did gain control and had access to a method by which they could avoid the shock, they had internalized their sense of _ to such a degree that they did not learn how to escape being shocked

Answer 41

Helplessness

Question 42

Significant in the study of depression in humans

Answer 42

Learned Helplessness

Question 43

This experiment showed the importance of having a sense of control over the situations in which we find ourselves

Answer 43

Dog experiment

Question 44

People who have a sense of _ _ are more likely than others to feel depressed because they do not feel that they can control what happens to them

Answer 44

Learned Helplessness

Question 45

Residents who received control over such decisions as what time to perform various activities and where to sit when guests arrive, or who were given plants to take care of (rather than having the staff take care of the plants), exhibited a greater sense of control and were less _ than residents who did not receive these options

Answer 45

Depressed