Chapter 2

Question 1

Which two events does a reflex involve?

Answer 1

An eliciting stimulus and a corresponding response.

Presentation of stimulus is followed by the response and the response rarely occurs in the absence of the stimulus.

Question 2

What constitutes the reflex arc?

Answer 2

afferent neuron, interneuron, and efferent neuron

Question 3

Modal action patterns

Answer 3

A response pattern exhibited by most, if not all, members of a species in much the same way. Modal action patterns are used as basic units of behavior in ethological investigations of behavior.

Question 4

sign stimulus

Answer 4

a specific feature of an object or animal that elicits a modal action pattern. Also called releasing stimulus

Question 5

supernormal stimulus

Answer 5

A sign stimulus whose features have been artificially enhanced or exaggerated to produce an abnormally large modal action pattern.

Question 6

appetitive behavior

Answer 6

Behavior that occurs early in a natural behavior sequence and serves to bring the organism in contact with a releasing stimulus

Question 7

consummatory behavior

Answer 7

Behavior that serves to bring a natural sequence of behavior to consummation or completion. Consummatory responses are usually species-typical modal action patterns.

Question 8

habituation effect

Answer 8

a progressive decrease in the vigor of elicited behavior that may occur with repeated pre-sensations of the eliciting stimulus

Question 9

habituation process

Answer 9

a neural mechanism activated by repetitions of a stimulus that reduces the magnitude of responses elicited by that stimulus.

Question 10

sensitization effect

Answer 10

an increase in the vigor of elicited behavior that may result from repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus or from exposure to extraneous stimulus

Question 11

spontaneous recovery

Answer 11

return of responding to baseline levels produced by a period of rest after habituation or sensitization.

Question 12

sensory adaptation

Answer 12

a temporary reduction in the sensitivity of sense organs caused by repeated or excessive stimulation.

Question 13

fatigue

Answer 13

a temporary decrease in behavior caused by repeated or excessive use of the muslces involved in the behavior

Question 14

How are sensory adaptation and fatigue related to habituation and sensitization?

Answer 14

Habituation and sensitization are limited to neurophysiological changes - fatigue and sensory adaptation do not amount for this as they are produced outside the nervous system.

Question 15

dual-process theory

Answer 15

sensitization and habituation, through changes in the state system and the S-R system, respectively, account for increases and decreases in responsiveness to stimulation.

Question 16

S-R system

Answer 16

The shortest neural pathway that connects the sense organs stimulated by an eliciting stimulus and the muscles involved in making the elicited response

Question 17

state system

Answer 17

neural structures that determine the general level of responsiveness, or arousal of the organism.

Question 18

According to the dual-process theory, what is the specificity of habituation and sensitization?

Answer 18

habituation is stimulus specific because of the S-R circuit

sensitization is not highly stimulus specific

Question 19

What are the characteristics at the core of the opponent process theory of motivation?

Answer 19

(1) emotional reactions are biphasic; a primary reaction is followed by an opposite after-reaction
(2) the primary reaction becomes weaker or habituates with repeated stimulation
(3) the weakening of the primary reaction with repetition is accompanied by a strengthening of the after-reaction

Question 20

a process/primary process

Answer 20

The first process in the opponent process theory of motivation that is elicited by a biologically significant stimulus.

Question 21

b process/opponent process

Answer 21

A compensatory mechanism that occurs in response to the primary process elicited by biologically significant events. The opponent process causes physiological and behavioral changes that are the opposite of those caused by the primary process.