Chapter 6 - Questions

Question 1

Your roommate’s phone is constantly buzzing with text message alerts. After a few minutes, you stop noticing it. However, when you hear your own phone alert you to a new text, you feel excited because you know a friend is messaging you. Your response to your roommate’s phone is an example of __________ learning, whereas feeling excited when your own phone alerts you is an example of __________ learning.

Answer 1

nonassociative; associative

Question 2

According to Watson, what is the only valid indicator of psychological activity, and why?

Answer 2

overt behavior because it alone can be studied using the scientific method

Question 3

John wants to teach his pet to do a trick. What type(s) of reinforcement should he use if he wants to ensure fast learning and enduring, stable behavior?

Answer 3

first continuous, then partial

Question 4

You are conducting an informal study in which, for a month, you play a particular song for your best friend just before you serve her dinner. Eventually, you play just the song to see what will happen, and your friend begins to salivate and says that she has hunger pains. In this scenario, what is the conditioned response?

Answer 4

salivation in response to the song

Question 5

What term do behaviorists use to describe the gradual forming of an association between an unconditioned stimulus and a conditioned stimulus?

Answer 5

acquisition

Question 6

Being given a fine for overdue library books is a form of…

Answer 6

positive punishment

Question 7

A parent explains to a child that if the child hits their sister, the child will go to their room for a time-out. The child understands and goes to play with their toys instead of hitting their sister. This is an example of which learning concept?

Answer 7

instructed learning

Question 8

Evidence for social learning in nonhumans is present in all of the following examples EXCEPT

A. lab-raised monkeys becoming fearful of a snake after watching a wild monkey’s reactions.

B. animals that injure rather than kill their prey in order to teach their young how to hunt.

C. a cat learning to come at the sound of a can opener because the sound predicts food.

D. a puppy learning to get into the cupboard containing the dog food after watching an older dog open the door.

Answer 8

a cat learning to come at the sound of a can opener because the sound predicts food.

Question 9

Gambling on a slot machine involves rewards on a __________ schedule.

Answer 9

variable ratio

Question 10

The idea that the consequences of our actions determine the likelihood they will be performed in the future underlies

Answer 10

operant conditioning

Question 11

The sound of a dentist’s drill makes you nervous. What type of learning produced your fear?

Answer 11

associative learning

Question 12

What is the primary difference between habituation and sensitization?

Answer 12

Habituation decreases a behavioural response, whereas sensitization increases a behavioural response.

Question 13

Which learning process helps you reach differently towards flying insects that sting than toward those that do not sting while hiking in the woods?

Answer 13

Stimulus discrimination

Question 14

What is the law of effect in Edward Thorndike’s general theory of learning?

Answer 14

The likelihood of the occurrence of a behaviour is influenced by its consequences.

Question 15

What do the terms positive and negative mean in relation to learning through reinforcement or punishment?

Answer 15

Positive means something is added. Negative means something is removed.

Question 16

If you take away a child’s toy because the child is banging it against the wall, what kind of punishment is this?

Answer 16

negative punishment

Question 17

How would you teach a dog to stand on a skateboard with shaping?

Answer 17

You would reward successive approximations of the behaviour

Question 18

In terms of learning, what is the main cause of superstitious behaviour?

Answer 18

Receiving chance reinforcement

Question 19

Why might delaying positive reinforcement be less effective?

Answer 19

Temporal discounting

Question 20

What type of partial reinforcement produces the most persistent responses?

Answer 20

variable ratio schedule

Question 21

Your friend was frightened when she was on a tall bridge and found an unusual flower. She now fears heights and tall bridges but not unusual flowers. Why?

Answer 21

Biological preparedness: we are biologically prepared to fear some stimuli, such as heights, more than others, such as flowers