Learning and Memory

Question 1

Prior learning interferes with learning new information

Answer 1

Proactive interference

Question 2

Kohler’s research with chimpanzees demonstrated that, at least in some situations, problem-solving is not the result of trial-and-error but, instead,

Answer 2

sudden insight

Question 3

A client whose symptoms meet the diagnostic criteria for dissociative amnesia is unable to recall any events that occurred for about six weeks after she was brutally raped two years ago. This type of dissociative amnesia is referred to in the DSM-5 as:

Answer 3

localized amnesia

Question 4

Law of effect (thorndike)

Answer 4

behaviors that are followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to recur.

Question 5

Does sensory memory have
large vs. small capacity
brief vs. long duration

Answer 5

Large capacity, short duration

Question 6

A dog is exposed to bells at home before he goes to the lab. So when Pavlov does his experiment, it doesn’t really work. What is this called

Answer 6

latent inhibition (presentation of US alone on multiple occasions prior to conditioning)

Question 7

two-factor learning

Answer 7

Performance of a particular behavior is due to positive reinforcement (operant conditioning). Performance of the behavior in the presence of a positive discriminative stimulus but not in the presence of a negative discriminative stimulus is the result of discrimination training (classical conditioning).

Question 8

Gradually removing a prompt once the behavior is at the desired level

Answer 8

Fading

Question 9

signals that reinforcement will not be provided following performance of a particular behavior

Answer 9

a negative discriminative stimulus

Question 10

teaching each response separately, beginning with the first response in the behavior chain and, once that response is mastered, teaching the next response. This process continues until the individual is performing the desired behavior.

Answer 10

forward chaining

Question 11

beginning with the last response in the chain and then teaching the second to last response, etc. F

Answer 11

backward chaining

Question 12

What is the difference between shaping and chaining

Answer 12

with shaping, only the final target behavior is important and the other behaviors that were reinforced during training are no longer important or evident once the individual can perform the final behavior. In contrast, with chaining, each response in the behavior chain is important and evident when the individual performs the target behavior.

Question 13

A child loves to play video games but hates doing homework and mom tells the child he can play video games only after he’s finished his homework.

Answer 13

premack principle

preferred behavior = reinforcement for less preferred behavior

Question 14

When using __________ to increase a behavior, the presence of a discriminative stimulus indicates that the behavior will be reinforced.

Answer 14

stimulus control

Question 15

A rat is reinforced with a food pellet whenever it presses Bar A or presses Bar B. If reinforcement is stopped for pressing Bar B, the rat will:

Answer 15

Increase freq of Bar A and decrease freq of bar B (contrast)

Question 16

A decrease in the effectiveness of punishment over time is often due to:

Answer 16

habituation (satiation occurs with reinforcement)

Question 17

a phrase or sentence consisting of familiar words is created, with each word beginning with the first letter of one of the words to be memorized.

Answer 17

acrostic

Question 18

A psychology graduate student repeatedly presents a tone just prior to presenting food to a hungry dog. After the dog is salivating in response to the tone when it’s presented alone, the student repeatedly presents the tone and a blinking light together just before presenting food. Regardless of how many times she presents the tone and blinking light together before presenting the food, the dog never salivates in response to the blinking light when it’s presented alone. This phenomenon is referred to as:

Answer 18

blocking - because it doesn’t provide any new information

Question 19

What is the reinforcer most resistent to satiation

Answer 19

Generalized reinforcers (e.g., money, tokens)/generalized secondary reinforcers/generalized conditioned reinforcers.

They’re less susceptible than primary and secondary reinforcers to satiation because they can be exchanged for a variety of back-up (primary) reinforcers.

Question 20

encoding specificity hypothesis

Answer 20

retrieval from LTM is helped when conditions are the same for learning and recall (cues)

Question 21

Thinning vs. fading

Answer 21

Thinning refers to the process of reducing the proportion of reinforcements. Fading refers to the gradual removal of prompts.

Question 22

What can accidentally produce experimental neurosis

Answer 22

training for discriminant conditioning

Question 23

Elmo, age 5, has learned that, if he has a tantrum at mealtime whenever his parents want him to eat food he doesn’t like, his parents will let him eat something else instead so that he will stop crying. In this situation, the parents’ behavior (letting Elmo eat something other than the disliked food) is being maintained by:

Answer 23

escape conditioning - negative reinforcement

stimulus = offering alternative food
response =  tantrum stops

escape conditioning = escaping an aversive stimulus after it’s already happened

Question 24

flooding

Answer 24

deliberate exposure with response prevention (relaxation); implosion is the same thing but it is imagined and has psychodynamic features

Question 25

avoidance conditioning

Answer 25

withdraw or prevent an unpleasant stimulus before it even starts

Question 26

A behavior that’s acquired as the result of avoidance conditioning is not likely to extinguish because it’s being:

Answer 26

maintained by negative reinforcement

Question 27

The behavioral technique known as successive approximation conditioning is also known as:

Answer 27

shaping