Midterm Review

Question 0

What are two advantages of using a secondary reinforcer? (sound/clicker)

Answer 0

• It can be presented immediately upon the occurrence of the behavior, even if the animal is some distance away.
• By using a secondary reinforcer such as a clicker, with food delivered only intermittently, satiation will take longer to occur, thereby allowing for longer training sessions.

Question 1

Define Shaping.

Answer 1

Shaping is the gradual creation of new operant behavior through reinforcement of successive approximations to that behavior.

Question 2

Describe the Rescorla-Wagner theory.

Answer 2

Proposes that a given US can support only so much conditioning, and this amount of conditioning must be distributed among the various CSs that are present.
TONE (v-0): FOOD (m-10)=Salivation
TONE (v-10)=Salivation

Question 3

Explain what the Rescorla-Wagner theory is.

Answer 3

• There is only so much associative value available with the US.
• The stronger USs support more conditioning than do weaker USs.

Question 4

Explain how the Rescorla-Wagner theory accounts for overshadowing.

Answer 4

There is only so much associative value available for conditioning, and if the more salient stimulus in the compound picks up most of the value left over for the less salient stimulus.
[Loud Tone + Faint Light] (v-0):
Food (m-10)=Salivation

Loud Tone (v-9)=Salivation
Faint Light (v-1)=Salivation

Question 5

Explain how the Rescorla-Wagner theory accounts for blocking.

Answer 5

[Tone + Light] (v-10+0):
Food (m-10)=Salvation

Tone (v-10)=Salvation
Light (v-0)= No Salvation

Question 6

Describe the compensatory-response model of conditioning.

Answer 6

A model of conditioning in when a CS that has been repeatedly associated with the primary response (a-process) to a US will eventually come to elicit a compensatory response (b-process).

Question 7

How does compensatory-response model account for drug overdoses that occur when an addict seems to have injected only a normal amount of drug?

Answer 7

A critical factor appears to be the setting within which the drug is administered.

If a heroin addict addict typically administers the drug in the presence of certain cues, those cues become CSs that elicit compensatory reactions to the drug.

An addict’s tolerance to heroin is much greater in the presence of those cues than in their absence.

Question 8

Define latent inhibition.

Answer 8

The phenomenon whereby a familiar stimulus is more difficult to condition as a CS than is an unfamiliar (nov) stimulus.

Question 9

Diagram an example of latent inhibition.

Answer 9

-Step#1: Stimulus pre-exposed phase in which a metronome is repeatedly presented alone.
Metronome [NS] 40 presentations

-Step#2: Conditioning trials in which the pre-exposed metronome is now paired with food.
Metronome [NS]: Food[US]=
Salivation [UR] 10 trials

-Step#3: Test trial to determine of conditioning has occurred to the metronome.
Metronome [NS] = No Salivation —

Question 10

Define blocking.

Answer 10

The phenomenon whereby the presence of an established CS interferes with conditioning of a new CS.

Question 11

Define Classical Conditioning.

Answer 11

It’s a process in which one stimulus that does not elicit a certain response is associated with a second stimulus that does; as a result, the first stimulus also comes to elicit a response.

Question 12

Advantage #1 of using animals as subjects in behavioral research.

Answer 12

The ability to control their genetic makeup and their learning history:

• Knowledge of an animal’s genetic makeup may help us eliminate, or assess, the effects of inherited differences on learning and behavior.
• Animals bred for research have had somewhat identical experiences during their upbringing, along with a fairly limited learning history.
• If we are conducting experiments designed to assess basic principles of learning, then the learning histories of one’s subjects could critically influence the outcome of the experiment.

Question 13

Advantage #2 of using animals as subjects in behavioral research.

Answer 13

Researchers are often able to more strictly control the experimental environment for animals than for humans:

-Animals are more easily insulated from extraneous influences during the course of the experiment, their behavior is more likely to reflect the true influence of the independent variable.

Question 14

Advantage #3 of using animals as subjects in behavioral research.

Answer 14

Some research cannot ethically be conducted with humans:

-Rats have been used to investigate the manner in which classical conditioning might account for unusual instances of drug overdose. It would be impossible to conduct with human subject.

Question 15

Disadvantage #1 of using animals as subjects in behavioral research.

Answer 15

Animals are not humans, the findings fr animal research necessarily have limited applicability to humans.

-The physiological processes, genetic tendencies, and learning histories of animals are simple too different for research with animals to be of much relevance to humans.

Question 16

Disadvantage #2 of using animals as subjects in behavioral research.

Answer 16

It is morally wrong and that animals have rights similar to humans.

-Animal rights activists oppose “inhumane” research practices such as confining animals to cages, subjecting them to shock, depriving them of food etc.

Question 17

Define stimulus/stimuli.

Answer 17

Stimulus is any event that can potentially influence behavior, whereas a response is particular instance of a behavior.

Ex: loud music (stimulus) might cause your neighbor to bang on the wall (response).

Question 18

Define speed.

Answer 18

Speed is a measure of how quickly or slowly a behavior occurs, or the rapidly with which one progresses through some type of distance.

Ex: the length of time it takes for a rat to run through a maze from the start box to the goal box is a measure of speed.

Question 19

Define duration.

Answer 19

Duration is the length of time that an individual repeatedly or continuously performs a certain behavior.

Ex: a student may attempt to increase the amount of time spent watching tv.

Question 20

Define latency.

Answer 20

The latency of a behavior is the length of time required for the behavior to begin.

Ex: TV game shows the require contestants to press buzzers when the believe they have the right answer are using latency measure of the contestants’ performance.

Question 21

Define methodological behaviorism.

Answer 21

Methodological behaviorism asserts that for methodological reasons, psychologists should study only those behaviors that can be directly observed.

-Watson (1913): he believed that psychologists should study only publicly observable behavior.

Question 22

John B. Watson

Answer 22

• Watson believed that learning involves the development of a simple connection between an environment event (the stimulus) and a specific behavior (the response).
• Watson’s theory off learning is regarded as a type of S-R Theory, in which learning is believed to involve the establishment of a connection between an specific stimulus and a specific response.
• He emphasized the influence of both heredity and environment on behavior.
• He thought humans inherit only a few fundamental reflexes along with three basic emotions (love, rage, and fear) everything else is learned.

Question 23

Define social learning theory.

Answer 23

A cognitive-behavior approach that strongly emphasizes the importance of observational learning and cognitive variables in explaining human behavior.

Question 24

Albert Bandura

Answer 24

• Proposed the concept of reciprocal determinism in which environmental events, observable behavior, and “person variables” (thoughts and feelings) are seen as having, a reciprocal influence on each other.
• Cognitive-behavior therapy in which psychological disorders are treated by altering both environmental variables and cognitive processes.

Question 25

Define systematic desensitization.

Answer 25

A behavioral treatment for phobias that involves pairing relaxation with a succession of stimuli that elicit increasing levels of fear.

Question 26

Explain part #1 of the systematic desensitization process.

Answer 26

Training in relaxation:
-deep muscle relaxation procedure is commonly employed for inducing relaxation, but other methods such as meditation or hypnosis have also been used.

Question 27

Explain part #2 of the systematic desensitization process.

Answer 27

Creation of a hierarchy of imaginary scenes that elicit progressively intense levels of fear:
10 to 15 scenes, starting with a scene that elicits only a minor degree of fear.

• 1st: visualizing a friendly poodle tied to tree
• last: visualizing standing beside a large dog that is barking

Question 28

Explain part #3 of the systematic desensitization process.

Answer 28

Paring of each item in the hierarchy with relaxation:

• starting with the least fearful scene, the person is asked to visualize the scene for about 10 to 30 seconds and then engage in a short period of relaxation.
• process is repeated until the 1st no longer elicits anxiety.
• by the time the scariest scene is reached, most of the person’s fear will have been eliminated.