Chapter 10 - Differential Reinfocement

Question 1

John and Darrin always welcomed Lee when he sat with them during lunch. One day John and Darrin ignored Lee when he sat down because they were having an important conversation. From then on, John and Darrin ignored Lee when he sat with them. Eventually, Lee stopped sitting with them. What behavioral procedure accounts for Lee’s changed behavior? __________

Answer 1

extinction

Question 2

Stokes and Fawcett (1977) studied the effect of collecting properly packaged trash and not collect improperly packaged trash. Does the example involve two (or more) different behaviors? __________ (Yes, No)

Answer 2

yes

Question 3

When John was 5 years old, he used jerky movements of his fingers to tune his radio, and he could rarely get his favorite station. Sometimes his movements were less jerky by accident, and he could get the station. Gradually, he developed a smooth movement that let him tune his favorite station quite easily. What behavioral procedure built into the way radio tuners work leads to smooth tuning movements?

Answer 3

differential reinforcement

Question 4

One characteristic of differential reinforcement is that all but one behavior should be decreased through the use of __________.

Answer 4

extinction

Question 5

Ben was an excellent ski instructor. He made a nice comment when you made a turn smoothly, but said nothing when he goofed up. He didn’t even laugh when you fell down. His students learned smooth turns quickly. What behavioral procedure did he use to teach smooth turning? __________

Answer 5

differential reinforcement

Question 6

Grannies often spoil a child even when the parents are careful not to. If a child learns to beg for candy from Granny but does not beg for candy from her parents, what behavioral procedure is unwittingly being used by the adults? __________

Answer 6

unknown

Question 7

When people are learning to drive a car with a manual transmission, they often have trouble learning how to shift. One problem is that, if they take their foot off the accelerator too slowly when they start to shift, the engine races. On the other hand, if they take their foot off the accelerator too rapidly, the car will suddenly slow down. They must learn to let the accelerator off at just the right speed. The process of decreasing responses that are the right speed is the result of what behavioral procedure? __________

Answer 7

differential reinforcement

Question 8

Why is being reinforced for reading about physics while being extinguished for reading about social problems not an example of differential reinforcement?

Answer 8

Because the reading response for physics is not different from the reading response for social problems.

Question 9

Stokes and Fawcett (1977) asked sanitation workers to rate how safely the trash was packaged before and after the new rules were enforced. They then correlated the ratings with observations made by trained observers using a strict definition of “safe packaging.” The researchers were determining the __________ of their behavioral definition of safe packaging.

Answer 9

social validity

Question 10

Gary’s parents were a problem. They frequently ranted and raved about all the “hippies” running around the university. Gary decided to change this by ignoring all unfavorable comments about young people and by praising his parents for being so in touch with young people when they made favorable comments. His parents gradually started talking more nicely about young people. What behavioral definition did Gary use to change his parents comments? __________

Answer 10

differential reinforcement

Question 11

If one behavior is increased through reinforcement and all others are decreased through extinction, the procedure is called __________.

Answer 11

differential reinforcement

Question 12

Explain how you determine whether two behaviors are the same

Answer 12

You must analyze whether the individual uses exactly the same muscles in exactly the same way.

Question 13

Stokes and Fawcett (1977( found that correct trash-packaging behaviors increased and incorrect ones decreased when only correctly packaged trash was collected. What behavioral procedure did they use? __________

Answer 13

differential reinforcement

Question 14

Billy found that he couldn’t pound in a nail if he struck with a pushing movement. But he could pound it in if he struck with a swinging movement. What behavioral procedure is an example of? __________

Answer 14

differential reinforcement

Question 15

Differential reinforcement involves the behavioral procedures of [a] and [b]

Answer 15

extinction; reinforcement

Question 16

What is the difference between reinforcement and differential reinforcement?

Answer 16

differential reinforcement involves reinforcement, but also involves the extinction of one or more different behaviors.