Learning Theory Flashcards
Which of the following is an example of elaborative rehearsal?
Select one:
A.
Ensuring that the same cues are present when information is encoded and retrieved
B.
Gradually removing prompts during the learning process
C.
Practicing a new skill past the point of mastery
D.
Relating new information to previously acquired information
The correct answer is D.
The rehearsal of new information helps ensure that it is transferred from short- to long-term memory. Two types of rehearsal are distinguished: maintenance and elaborative. Elaborative rehearsal is used to describe the process of making new information meaningful in order to enhance its retention and retrieval. Relating new information to previously acquired information is one type of elaborative rehearsal.
Answer A: Ensuring that the same cues are present when information is encoded and retrieved describes encoding specificity.
Answer B: Gradually removing prompts during the learning process describes fading.
Answer C: Practicing a new skill past the point of mastery describes overlearning.
A friend asks you how you liked the concert you went to last Saturday night. As you try to recall the concert, you realize that your memory is being affected by other concerts you have attended in the past. In other words, your memory of last Saturday’s concert is being affected by:
Select one:
A.
your implicit memory of concerts
B.
a lack of encoding specificity
C.
cue-dependent forgetting
D.
your schema for concerts
The correct answer is D.
A schema is a group or cluster of knowledge about an object or event. Your recollection of last Saturday’s concert is being affected by your “cluster of knowledge” regarding concerts. In this situation, your memory of a particular concert is affected by your previous experiences with concerts.
Answer A: Implicit memory corresponds to procedural memory, and explicit memory corresponds to declarative memory. Episodic memory (events that have been personally experienced) is a type of declarative memory.
Answer B: The encoding specificity principle proposes that the greater the similarity between the way the information is encoded and the cues that are present at the time of recall, the better the recall. In this situation, the information in the question references the influence of previous concerts on your recollection, not the similarity between the way the information was encoded and cues present at the time of recall.
Answer C: Cue-dependent forgetting results when cues needed to retrieve information from long-term memory are insufficient or incomplete. The question does not reference insufficient cues; rather, your memory is affected by the presence of cues that elicit your schema for concerts.
The underlying premise of Albert Ellis’s Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is that dysfunctional behaviors are:
Select one:
A.
the result of irrational thoughts and beliefs
B.
the result of incongruence between self and experience
C.
the result of “automatic thoughts”
D.
the result of a lack of “awareness”
The correct answer is A.
Ellis’s REBT assumes that irrational ways of thinking underlie dysfunctional behaviors.
Answer B: This is the underlying premise of Rogers’ client-centered therapy.
Answer C: Although REBT views irrational thoughts as determiners of dysfunctional behaviors, the notion of “automatic thoughts” is more characteristic of Beck’s theory of depression and other forms of maladaptive behavior.
Answer D: This is the underlying premise of Perls’ Gestalt therapy.
Use of which of the following provided Broadbent (1958) with support for his filter theory of attention?
Select one:
A.
Dismantling strategy
B.
Stroop test
C.
Dichotic listening task
D.
Serial position effect
The correct answer is C.
Broadbent’s (1958) filter theory of attention was the first comprehensive theory of attention and the first of the “bottleneck” theories. It proposes that a filter (i.e., sensory buffer) selects which incoming message will be further processed or attended to on the basis of the physical properties of the message. Most participants in Broadbent’s studies reported the information by one ear then the other ear rather than by the chronological order in which they heard the digits. Broadbent concluded that this proved that the physical properties of the message determined if it was attended to or ignored. In other words, in the dichotic listening task studies, the filter allowed the message from one ear to “pass through” before it allowed the message from the other ear to do so, which explained why participants would report the digits heard in one ear first, followed by the digits heard in the other ear.
Answer A: The dismantling strategy is used to identify the mechanisms responsible for benefits of a treatment. This strategy involves comparing the effects of the various components of a treatment by administering different components to different groups of participants.
Answer B: The Stroop Test assesses the degree to which an examinee can suppress a prepotent (habitual) response in favor of an unusual one and measures cognitive flexibility, selective attention, and response inhibition.
Answer D: The serial position effect suggests that when people are asked to recall a list of unrelated words immediately after reading the list, the items in the beginning and end of the list are recalled much better than those in the middle. If there is a delay between exposure to the list and recall, people will most easily remember the words at the beginning of the list.
Lewinsohn’s (1974) behavioral model attributes depression to:
Select one:
A.
negative self-attributions
B.
the fundamental attribution bias
C.
a low rate of response-contingent reinforcement
D.
problems related to self-evaluation
The correct answer is C.
Lewinsohn’s (1974) behavioral model is based on operant conditioning and focuses on the consequence of behavior. Lewinsohn described depression as being primarily the result of a low rate of response-contingent reinforcement.
Answer A: Abramson et al.’s (1978) reformulated version of the learned helplessness model added attributions for negative events to the original model. According to the reformulated version, people who are depressed tend to blame themselves for negative events, believe that negative events will always happen to them, and think that negativity will affect all aspects of their lives.
Answer B: The fundamental attribution bias refers to the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to dispositional factors.
Answer D: Rehm’s self-control model views depression as being the result of problems related to self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement.
A treatment for depression that is based on Rehm’s self-control theory is most likely to include:
Select one:
A.
having the client keep a record of automatic thoughts
B.
having the client keep a record of positive experiences
C.
helping the client replace irresponsible behaviors with responsible ones
D.
using functional behavioral analysis to help the client identify the antecedents and consequences associated with maladaptive behaviors
The correct answer is B.
Rehm’s self-control theory is based on the assumption that depression is related to six deficits in self-control behavior: selective monitoring of negative events; selective monitoring of immediate (vs. delayed) consequences of behavior; stringent self-evaluative criteria; inaccurate attributions of responsibility; insufficient self-reward; and excessive self-punishment. According to Rehm, depressed people focus too much on negative events. Treatment attempts to alter this by encouraging clients to recognize the positive events that occur.
Answer A: Having the client keep a record of automatic thoughts is more aligned with Beck’s version of cognitive therapy.
Answer C: Although Rehm believes that depressed people make inaccurate attributions about responsibility, he doesn’t talk about “irresponsible behaviors.”
Answer D: Rehm’s approach does not focus on identifying the antecedents and consequences of maladaptive behaviors.
For a therapist relying on Beck’s cognitive approach to treat a client suffering from an anxiety disorder, the initial cognitive restructuring will most likely focus on:
Select one:
A.
reattribution
B.
cognitive rehearsal
C.
thought stopping
D.
decatastrophizing
The correct answer is D.
Cognitive therapists use a variety of cognitive strategies, and many of the strategies are the same regardless of the client’s disorder. However, some techniques are better suited to certain disorders, especially as initial interventions. Decatastrophizing is particularly useful for people with an anxiety disorder since they tend to overestimate the risk and consequences of perceived danger.
Answer A: Reattribution involves attributing responsibility to appropriate parties and is most useful when the client is depressed or guilt-ridden.
Answer B: Cognitive rehearsal requires the client to imagine each step involved in an activity or task.
Answer C: Thought stopping may be useful but it is usually classified as a behavioral technique (not cognitive restructuring) and would probably not be an initial intervention in treating a client with an anxiety disorder.
Subjects in a research study are asked to read the following list of words: pin, sewing, thread, sharp, haystack, injection, point, pain. They are then asked to recall as many words from the list as possible, and many subjects recall the word “needle” even though it is not one of the words in the list. This illustrates which of the following?
Select one:
A.
False memory induction
B.
Imagination inflation
C.
Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm
D.
Loftus misinformation effect
The correct answer is C.
The four phenomena listed as answers to this question have been used to study or explain false memories. The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) effect refers to the tendency to erroneously recall a word for a word list that contains semantically related words. It has been used to study false memory and identify people who are prone to creating false memories.
Answer A: The false memory induction procedure creates false memories by repeatedly asking subjects about events they never experienced.
Answer B: Imagination inflation involves creating false memories of an event by asking subjects to imagine the event before asking them to recall if it happened to them.
Answer D: The Loftus misinformation effect occurs when the original memory of an event is altered by subsequent exposure to misleading information about that event.
When aversive counterconditioning is being used to eliminate a fetish, the fetish object is the:
Select one:
A.
unconditioned stimulus
B.
unconditioned response
C.
conditioned stimulus
D.
conditioned response
The correct answer is C.
Aversive counterconditioning is a form of classical conditioning which involves pairing a stimulus associated with the target behavior (a conditioned stimulus, or CS) with a stimulus that naturally evokes an unpleasant response in order to eliminate the target behavior. A fetish is a nonsexual object (e.g., a shoe or glove) that evokes a sexual response. In aversive counterconditioning, the fetish object is the CS and is paired with the unconditioned stimulus (US) until the fetish elicits the same response (e.g., aversion) as the US.
Answer A: In terms of classical conditioning, the US is a stimulus that elicits the desired response before conditioning occurs. In aversive counterconditioning, the stimulus that naturally evokes the aversive response serves as the US. In the aversive counterconditioning of a fetish, the US is often electric shock.
Answer B: The unconditioned response (UR) is the response that is naturally elicited by the US.
Answer D: The response that occurs as a result of the conditioning is the conditioned response (CR). The newly-acquired aversion to the fetish would represent the CR.
The belief that distorted schemas develop early in life and leave the individual susceptible to depression or other disorders when faced with stress is most consistent with the views of:
Select one:
A.
Lewinsohn
B.
Beck
C.
Seligman
D.
Rehm
The correct answer is B.
Beck’s cognitive therapy attributes depression to certain cognitive phenomena including dysfunctional cognitive schemas, automatic thoughts, and cognitive distortions. Use of the term “schema” in the question may have been a good indicator of the correct response.
Answer A: Lewinsohn proposed that depression is related to a lack of contingent reinforcement.
Answer C: Seligman is associated with the notion of learned helplessness.
Answer D: Rehm is associated with the self-control model of depression, which focuses on the processes of self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement.
While training your dog, you pet and speak calmly when he responds anxiously or nervously to a person walking by your front window. This training is to associate a positive response (i.e., petting, speaking calmly) with a stimulus (i.e., a person walking by the window). This would be an example of which of the following?
Select one:
A.
Counterconditioning
B.
Aversive conditioning
C.
Dishabituation
D.
Delayed conditioning
The correct answer is A.
Counterconditioning attempts to replace unpleasant emotional responses to a stimulus with more pleasant, adaptive responses.
Answer B: Aversive conditioning is the use of something unpleasant, or a punishment, to stop unwanted behavior. For example, if a dog is learning to walk on a leash alongside his owner, an undesired behavior would be the dog pulling on the leash. The owner may use a shock collar when the dog pulls, eventually allowing the dog to associate pulling on the leash with getting a painful shock and stop pulling.
Answer C: Dishabituation is the reappearance of a habituated response to a stimulus following the presentation of another, seemingly irrelevant novel stimulus.
Answer D: Delayed conditioning is a procedure in which the onset of the neutral stimulus precedes the onset of the unconditioned stimulus, and the two stimuli overlap. For example, a bell begins to ring and continues to ring until the food is presented.
Which of the following is likely the best way to memorize pairs of unrelated words?
Select one:
A.
Create an acronym
B.
Repeat the word pairs over and over again
C.
Create a visual image that links each word pair
D.
Use the clustering technique
The correct answer is C.
Of the methods listed, forming a visual image that links the two words would be the most useful. This is known as the keyword method and is useful for paired associate tasks. In general, visual imagery is considered the best memorization technique.
Answer A: An acronym is a word that is formed using the first letter of each item in a list. For example, the acronym CANOE is used to remember the “Big Five” personality traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion/introversion). The question asks about memorizing unrelated words, so this is not the best answer.
Answer B: Maintenance rehearsal involves the repetition of information with little or no processing, and is not an effective memorization strategy.
Answer D: Clustering is another name for chunking and is used to reduce a large amount of information to a smaller number of “chunks.” It would not be effective for memorizing word pairs.
Without rehearsal, information is held in short-term memory for a brief period of time. According to interference theory, this is due to which of the following?
Select one:
A.
A limited capacity
B.
Insufficient consolidation
C.
Inadequate memory cues
D.
The decay of memory traces over time
The correct answer is A.
With regard to short-term memory, interference refers to the displacement of items in memory by more recently perceived information and is attributable to the limited capacity of short-term memory. Note that this type of interference is sometimes referred to as “interference through displacement.”
Answer B: With regard to memory, the term consolidation is usually used to describe the process by which short-term memories are converted to long-term memories and is not used to explain why information is held in short-term memory for only a brief period of time.
Answer C: Inadequate memory cues have been identified as a cause of the inability to retrieve information from long-term memory.
Answer D: Trace decay theory has been used to explain loss of both short- and long-term memories and refers to the graduate fading of memories over time.
Which of the following is most useful for explaining the phenomenon known as the “serial position effect”?
Select one:
A.
The levels of processing model of memory
B.
The multi-store (three-box) model of memory
C.
The distinction between implicit and explicit memory
D.
The concept of overlearning
The correct answer is B.
The serial position effect refers to the finding that people who are asked to recall a list of words immediately after exposure to them tend to recall the words at the beginning and end of the list better than words in the middle of the list. The most widely accepted explanation for the serial position effect is that words in the beginning of the list have been transferred to long-term memory, while those at the end of the list are still in short-term memory. Therefore, the multi-store model, which proposes three distinct memory systems–sensory register, short-term memory, and long-term memory—is most useful for explaining the serial position effect.
Answer A: The levels of processing model predicts that memory is maximized then information is encoded semantically.
Answer C: Implicit and explicit memory have not been used to explain the serial position effect.
Answer D: Overlearning refers to rehearsing or studying past the point of mastery and is not relevant to the serial position effect.
A child is rewarded for brushing their teeth before bedtime and not rewarded when they do not brush their teeth before bedtime. This is an example of which of the following?
Select one:
A.
Overcorrection
B.
Differential reinforcement
C.
Negative practice
D.
Response cost
The correct answer is B.
Differential reinforcement works to reinforce a target behavior (brushing teeth) while withholding reinforcement from an unwanted behavior (not brushing teeth). The goal is to replace unwanted behaviors with desirable behaviors.
Answer A: Overcorrection involves the repetition of appropriate behavior after the occurrence of unwanted behavior.
Answer C: Negative practice involves requiring the individual to deliberately repeat the undesirable behavior to the point that it becomes aversive to the individual or the individual becomes fatigued.
Answer D: Response cost involves removing a specific reinforcer each time the target behavior is performed.
