Chapter Seven

Question 1

learning

Answer 1

the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.

Question 2

associative learning

Answer 2

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning).

Question 3

stimulus

Answer 3

any event or situation that evokes a response.

Question 4

respondent behavior

Answer 4

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.

Question 5

operant behavior

Answer 5

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.

Question 6

cognitive learning

Answer 6

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language.

Question 7

Why are habits, such as having something sweet with that cup of coffee, so hard to break?

Answer 7

Habits form when we repeat behaviors in a given context and, as a result, learn associations—often without our awareness. For example, we may have eaten a sweet pastry with a cup of coffee often enough to associate the flavor of the coffee with the treat, so that the cup of coffee alone just doesn’t seem right anymore!

Question 8

classical conditioning

Answer 8

a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result, to illustrate with Pavlov’s classic experiment, the first stimulus (a tone) comes to elicit behavior (drooling) in anticipation of the second stimulus (food).

Question 9

behaviorism

Answer 9

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

Question 10

neutral stimulus (NS)

Answer 10

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning.

Question 11

unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 11

in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth).

Question 12

unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 12

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers an unconditioned response (UR).

Question 13

conditioned response (CR)

Answer 13

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).

Question 14

conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 14

in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR).

Question 15

An experimenter sounds a tone just before delivering an air puff that causes your eye to blink. After several repetitions, you blink to the tone alone. What is the NS? The US? The UR? The CS? The CR?

Answer 15

NS = tone before conditioning; US = air puff; UR = blink to air puff; CS = tone after conditioning; CR = blink to tone

Question 16

acquisition

Answer 16

in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

Question 17

higher-order conditioning

Answer 17

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order conditioning.)

Question 18

Abbreviation Legend

Answer 18

NS = Neutral Stimulus
US = Unconditioned Stimulus
UR = Unconditioned Response
CS = Conditioned Stimulus
CR = Conditioned Response

Question 19

extinction

Answer 19

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.

Question 20

spontaneous recovery

Answer 20

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.

Question 21

If the aroma of a baking cake sets your mouth to watering, what is the US? The CS? The CR?

Answer 21

The cake (including its taste) is the US. The associated aroma is the CS. Salivation to the aroma is the CR.

Question 22

The first step of classical conditioning, when an NS becomes a CS, is called _________. When a US no longer follows the CS, and the CR becomes weakened, this is called ________.

Answer 22

acquisition, extinction

Question 23

generalization

Answer 23

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses. (In operant conditioning, generalization occurs when responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations.)

Question 24

discrimination

Answer 24

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus. (In operant conditioning, the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforced.)

Question 25

In slasher movies, sexually arousing images of women are sometimes paired with violence against women. Based on classical conditioning principles, what might be an effect of this pairing?

Answer 25

If viewing an attractive nude or seminude woman (a US) elicits sexual arousal (a UR), then pairing the US with a new NS (violence) could turn the violence into a conditioned stimulus (CS) that also becomes sexually arousing, a conditioned response (CR).

Question 26

In Watson and Rayner’s experiments, “Little Albert” learned to fear a white rat after repeatedly experiencing a loud noise as the rat was presented. In these experiments, what was the US? The UR? The NS? The CS? The CR?

Answer 26

The US was the loud noise; the UR was the fear response to the noise; the NS was the rat before it was paired with the noise; the CS was the rat after pairing; the CR was fear of the rat.

Question 27

operant conditioning

Answer 27

a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher.

Question 28

With classical conditioning, we learn associations between events we _______ (do/do not) control. With operant conditioning, we learn associations between our behavior and __________ (resulting/random) events.

Answer 28

do not; resulting

Question 29

law of effect

Answer 29

Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

Question 30

operant chamber

Answer 30

in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking.

Question 31

reinforcement

Answer 31

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.

Question 32

shaping

Answer 32

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.

Question 33

positive reinforcement

Answer 33

increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

Question 34

negative reinforcement

Answer 34

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: Negative reinforcement is not punishment.)

Question 35

The point to remember re: Reinforcement

Answer 35

Whether it works by reducing something aversive, or by providing something desirable, reinforcement is any consequence that strengthens behavior.

Question 36

primary reinforcer

Answer 36

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need.

Question 37

conditioned reinforcer

Answer 37

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer.

Question 38

reinforcement schedule

Answer 38

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced.

Question 39

continuous reinforcement schedule

Answer 39

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

Question 40

partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule

Answer 40

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement.

Question 41

fixed-ratio schedule

Answer 41

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.

Question 42

variable-ratio schedule

Answer 42

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.

Question 43

fixed-interval schedule

Answer 43

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed.

Question 44

variable-interval schedule

Answer 44

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.

Question 45

People who send spam e-mail are reinforced by which schedule? Home bakers checking the oven to see if the cookies are done are on which schedule? Sandwich shops that offer a free sandwich after every 10 sandwiches purchased are using which reinforcement schedule?

Answer 45

Spammers are reinforced on a variable-ratio schedule (after sending a varying number of e-mails). Cookie checkers are reinforced on a fixed-interval schedule. Sandwich shop programs use a fixed-ratio schedule.

Question 46

punishment

Answer 46

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows.

Question 47

Ethan constantly misbehaves at preschool even though his teacher scolds him repeatedly. Why does Ethan’s misbehavior continue, and what can his teacher do to stop it?

Answer 47

If Ethan is seeking attention, the teacher’s scolding may be reinforcing rather than punishing. To change Ethan’s behavior, his teacher could offer reinforcement (such as praise) each time he behaves well. The teacher might encourage Ethan toward increasingly appropriate behavior through shaping, or by rephrasing rules as rewards instead of punishments. (“You can have a snack if you play nicely with the other children” [reward] rather than “You will not get a snack if you misbehave!” [punishment].)

Question 48

Salivating in response to a tone paired with food is a(n) _______ behavior; pressing a bar to obtain food is a(n) ______ behavior.

Answer 48

respondent; operant

Question 49

preparedness

Answer 49

a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value.

Question 50

How did Garcia and Koelling’s taste-aversion studies help disprove Gregory Kimble’s early claim that “just about any activity of which the organism is capable can be conditioned . . . to any stimulus that the organism can perceive”?

Answer 50

Garcia and Koelling demonstrated that rats may learn an aversion to tastes, on which their survival depends, but not to sights or sounds.

Question 51

instinctive drift

Answer 51

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns.

Question 52

cognitive map

Answer 52

a mental representation of the layout of one’s environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it.

Question 53

latent learning

Answer 53

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.

Question 54

intrinsic motivation

Answer 54

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.

Question 55

extrinsic motivation

Answer 55

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment.

Question 56

Instinctive drift and latent learning are examples of what important idea?

Answer 56

The success of operant conditioning is affected not just by environmental cues, but also by biological and cognitive factors.

Question 57

observational learning

Answer 57

learning by observing others.

Question 58

modeling

Answer 58

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.

Question 59

mirror neurons

Answer 59

frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so. The brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy.

Question 60

prosocial behavior

Answer 60

positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior.

Question 61

Jason’s parents and older friends all drive over the speed limit, but they advise him not to. Juan’s parents and friends drive within the speed limit, but they say nothing to deter him from speeding. Will Jason or Juan be more likely to speed?

Answer 61

Jason may be more likely to speed. Observational learning studies suggest that children tend to do as others do and say what they say.

Question 62

Match the examples (1–5) to the appropriate underlying learning principle (a–e):
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Latent learning
Observational learning
Biological predispositions
Knowing the way from your bed to the bathroom in the dark
Your little brother getting in a fight after watching a violent action movie
Salivating when you smell brownies in the oven
Disliking the taste of chili after becoming violently sick a few hours after eating chili
Your dog racing to greet you on your arrival home

Answer 62

1. c, 2. d, 3. a, 4. e, 5. b