Chapter 15

Question 1

Describe three differences between operant responses and respondent responses

Answer 1

Operant responses are voluntary behaviours controlled by consequences, are emitted by an individual, and usually involves voluntary skeletal behaviours
Respondent responses are reflexive, involuntary, and automatic responses to prior stimuli, are elicited by prior stimuli, and involve smooth muscles and glands that control our gastrointestinal tract and blood vessels

Question 2

Describe the conditioning procedures and results of conditioning for operant conditioning (positive reinforcement only) and respondent conditioning

Answer 2

Operant conditioning

• Conditioning procedures - in the response of a stimulus, a response is followed by a reinforcer
• Results - response is more likely to occur to prior stimulus, now called an SD

Respondent conditioning

• Conditioning procedures - pairing of a neutral stimulus with an eliciting stimulus prior to a response
• Results - response is more likely to occur to the neutral stimulus, now called a CS

Question 3

Describe the extinction procedure and the results of extinction for operant conditioning and respondent conditioning

Answer 3

Operant conditioning

• Extinction procedure - a response is no longer followed by a reinforcer
• Result - response is less likely to occur to the former stimuli (SD)

Respondent conditioning

• Extinction procedure - the CS is no longer paired with the US
• Result - the CS loses the ability to elicit the CR

Question 4

Describe the procedures that are major causes for each of the emotions of joy, anger, anxiety, and relief

Answer 4

Presentation of reinforcers produces joy.
- Getting an “A+” on an exam, receiving a compliment, cashing your paycheck, and watching a funny movie all involve the presentation of positive reinforcers

Withholding or withdrawing reinforcers produces the emotion called anger.
- Anger-causing events such as putting money in a vending machine but it fails to produce the goods, using a pen that stops writing in the middle of a quiz, and having a ticket office close just before you get to the window to buy a ticket

The presentation of aversive stimuli produce the emotion called anxiety.
- Approaching scary-looking strangers in a dark alley, seeing a car drive directly toward you at a high speed, or hearing a dog bark right behind you all likely to cause you to feel anxious

Finally, withdrawal of aversive stimuli produces an emotion that is called relief.
- When a woman receives the results from a test of a lump on her breast or a man receives the results of an assessment of an enlarged prostate, each is likely to feel relief if she or he is told that the problem is not cancer

Question 5

In a sentence each, summarize three important components that make up our emotions, and name the type of conditioning involved in each component

Answer 5

The autonomic reaction that you feel during the experience of an emotion (typically accompanied by visible signs, such as frowns or smiles), which is influenced by respondent conditioning
The way that you learn to express an emotion overtly (such as shouting, jumping up and down), which is influenced by operant conditioning
The way that you become aware of and describe your emotions, which is also influenced by operant conditioning

Question 6

What basic assumptions do the authors of this text make about public and private behaviour?

Answer 6

Although private behaviours are more difficult to “get at,” behaviour modifiers assume that in other respects it is the same as public behaviour; that is, that the principles and procedures of operant and respondent conditioning apply to private behaviour