Chapter 4

Question 1

Whereas _____ is associated with the law of effect, _____ is considered the founder of operant conditioning.

Answer 1

Thorndike proposed the law of effect, while B. F. Skinner is considered the founder of operant conditioning.

Question 2

In avoidance learning, the participant learns to:

Answer 2

Thorndike proposed the law of effect, while B. F. Skinner is considered the founder of operant conditioning.

Question 3

The highest and most consistent rate of response is produced by a _________ schedule of reinforcement.

Answer 3

Fixed-interval and variable- interval have lower response rates than ratio schedules. Although fixed- ratio responses are high, there is a pause following each reinforcement. Therefore, the highest and most consistent schedule is variable-ratio.

Question 4

Reinforcement is:

Answer 4

There are two kinds of reinforcement: a) positive reinforcement makes the behaviour more likely to occur again, and b) negative reinforcement is the process where termination of an aversive stimulus makes behaviour more likely to occur.

Question 5

In negative reinforcement, an increase in behaviour follows:

Answer 5

Negative reinforcers are aversive or unpleasant stimuli that strengthen a particular behaviour by their removal. Hitting the snooze button on an alarm clock is negatively reinforced by the termination of the alarm.

Question 6

In an intermittent schedule of reinforcement, the participant is reinforced:

Answer 6

Partial reinforcement is superior to continuous and is more resistant to extinction.

Question 7

Generalised expectancies:

Answer 7

Generalised expectancies influence a broad spectrum of behaviours that are viewed in terms of how people view their own behaviour as being about the outcomes they seek (i.e., locus of control of reinforcement).

Question 8

Cognitive-social theory argues that _____ affects whether a particular behaviour is going to occur.

Answer 8

Cognitive-social theory proposes that an individual’s expectations or expectancies, about the consequences of a particular behaviour are what render the behaviour more or less likely to occur.

Question 9

___________ is a way of conducting operant conditioning that capitalises on past behaviours

Answer 9

Shaping produces a novel behaviour by reinforcing closer and closer approximations to the desired response. The key is to begin by reinforcing a response the animal can readily produce.

Question 10

You are training your dog to sit on command. Each time the dog sits, you give it a liver treat. This is an example of a ____________.

Answer 10

Factual. In this situation, the consequence is the same each time the animal emits a particular behaviour.

Question 11

The law of effect states that:

Answer 11

An animal’s tendency to reproduce a behaviour, depends on that behaviour’s effect on the environment, and the consequent effect on the animal.

Question 12

An important distinction between operant and classical conditioning is that:

Answer 12

In classical conditioning an environmental stimulus initiates a response whereas in operant conditioning, a behaviour (or operant) produces an environmental response.

Question 13

Which of the following is an example of escape learning?

Answer 13

In escape learning, a particular behaviour is reinforced by the elimination of an aversive state of affairs that already exists; that is, the organism escapes an aversive situation.

Question 14

Which of the following is not a problem with punishment?

Answer 14

There are two further problems with punishment. People sometimes use punishment when they are angry, which leads to poorly designed punishment and the potential for abuse; and aggression that is used to punish behaviour often leads to further aggression.

Question 15

Cognitive-social theory incorporates:

Answer 15

From behaviourist learning principles thus emerged cognitive-social theory, which incorporates concepts of conditioning but adds two new features: a focus on cognition and a focus on social learning.

Question 16

Which of the following is the most fundamental concept underlying operant conditioning?

Answer 16

Thorndike’s law of effect states that behaviour is a function of its consequences. A behaviour that results in a positive outcome is likely to be repeated while a behaviour that results in a negative outcome is less likely to be repeated.

Question 17

Which of the following decreases the likelihood that a response will recur?

Answer 17

Punishment(either by presenting an aversive stimulus or by removing a rewarding stimulus) decreases the probability that a behaviour will occur.

Question 18

If you remove an aversive situation when the organism makes the desired response, you are using:

Answer 18

Negative reinforcement is the process by which cessation of an aversive stimulus makes a behaviour more likely to occur.

Question 19

If you administer an aversive event when the organism makes an unwanted response you are using:

Answer 19

Positive punishment involves exposure to an aversive event following a behaviour, which will decrease the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again.

Question 20

In operant conditioning, when a response has been extinguished:

Answer 20

Spontaneous recovery can sometimes occur in operant conditioning. This is when a previously learned behaviour spontaneously re-appears despite the lack of reinforcement.

Question 21

Which of the following is an example of stimulus discrimination in classical conditioning?

Answer 21

Stimulus discrimination is the learned tendency to respond to a restricted range of stimuli or only to the stimulus involved in the original conditioning.

Question 22

As you drive down the street, a leaf hits your windshield. You know that the leaf is not going to break the windshield and yet you blink anyway. In classical conditioning, the leaf is a/an:

Answer 22

An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is a neutral stimulus that produces an unconditional response. In this case, the leaf is a previously neutral stimulus which is producing a reflex response.

Question 23

Taking paracetamol to relieve a headache is an example of:

Answer 23

Negative reinforcement strengthens behaviour. Removal of an aversive consequence marks a particular behaviour more likely to occur. Removal of the adverse consequence (the headache) will strengthen the behaviour of taking the paracetamol.

Question 24

My niece has terrible temper tantrums in the grocery store, so my sister is trying to think of a way to reduce the tantrums. Which of the following would be most likely to reduce the tantrums?

Answer 24

In order for punishment to be effective, you should remove any existing rewards for the undesired behaviour.

Question 25

Your teenage daughter misses curfew by two hours. You decide her punishment should be that she is grounded for a week. This would be an example of:

Answer 25

Applied. Negative punishment is the removal of a rewarding environmental consequence, making the behaviour less likely to occur. You are hoping that the removal of a rewarding
consequence (being grounded) will make her behaviour (missing curfew)
less likely to occur.

Question 26

I am paid every fortnight on a Wednesday. What type of schedule of reinforcement is this?

Answer 26

Being paid every fortnight
equates to being paid at a set (fixed) interval of time (interval). My pay is not a ratio payment (payoffs tied to the number of responses) and is a regular payment, not a variable payment.

Question 27

Every time you order a chicken dinner from KFC, you get a card stamped. After you buy ten dinners, you get one for free. KFC has you on what time of reinforcement schedule?

Answer 27

In a fixed-rational schedule, an organism receives reinforcement for a fixed proportion of the responses it emits. FR schedules are characterised by rapid responding, with a brief pause after each reinforcement.

Question 28

As a student you notice that you put off studying for exams until the night before the exam, when you study intensively. This is an example of what kind of reinforcement schedule?

Answer 28

In a fixed-interval schedule, an animal receives reinforcement for its responses only after a fixed amount of time. Animals learn to stop responding except towards the end of the interval when there is a rapid increase in the rate of behaviour (i.e., when the exam gets closer the amount of studying increases).

Question 29

Which of the following is an example of Thorndike’s law of effect?

Answer 29

Thorndike’s law of effect describes an animal’s tendency to reproduce a behaviour dependent upon that behaviour’s effect on the environment and, consequently, on the animal. It states that behaviour is controlled by its consequences.