PSYC*2330 Chapter 10: Aversive Control (Avoidance and Punishment)

Question 1

In which type of instrumental procedure does a participant’s behaviour prevent the delivery of an aversive stimulus?

Answer 1

Avoidance procedures

Question 2

Does avoidance involve a positive or negative contingency between an instrumental response and an aversive stimulus?

Answer 2

Negative contingency

Question 3

Do avoidance procedures increase or decrease the occurrence of instrumental behaviour?

Answer 3

Increase

Question 4

T or F: Punishment can also be referred to as “active avoidance”?

Answer 4

False. Punishment is also known as “passive avoidance” and avoidance is also known as “active avoidance.”

Question 5

In which type of instrumental conditioning procedure does a participant’s behaviour cause the delivery of an aversive stimulus?

Answer 5

Punishment procedures

Question 6

Does punishment involve a positive or negative contingency between an instrumental response and an aversive stimulus?

Answer 6

Positive contingency

Question 7

Do punishment procedures increase or decrease the occurrence of instrumental behaviour?

Answer 7

Decrease

Question 8

Vladimir Bechterev conducted the first of what type of experiment?

Answer 8

The first avoidance experiments with human participants

Question 9

Why were Vladimir Bechterev’s experiments not instances of classical conditioning?

Answer 9

Participants could cancel the delivery of the US by performing a response, which isn’t possible with classical conditioning procedures

Question 10

In which type of avoidance conditioning procedure are occurrences of the aversive stimulus signalled by a CS?

Answer 10

Discriminated avoidance procedures

Question 11

Do discriminated avoidance procedures involve discrete or continuous trials?

Answer 11

Discrete

Question 12

What are the two types of trials involved in a discriminated avoidance procedure?

Answer 12

• Avoidance trials
• Escape trials

Question 13

What is an avoidance trial in a discriminated avoidance procedure?

Answer 13

A trial in which the avoidance response is made, causing the CS to be turned off and the aversive US to be omitted

Question 14

What is an escape trial in a discriminated avoidance procedure?

Answer 14

A trial in which the avoidance response isn’t made and the aversive US is presented

Question 15

During an escape trial in a discriminated avoidance procedure, when do both the CS and US terminate?

Answer 15

Once the instrumental avoidance response if performed

Question 16

In which type of avoidance conditioning procedure does the required instrumental response consist of going back and forth between two sides of a shuttle box on successive trials?

Answer 16

Shuttle avoidance procedures

Question 17

What is the difference between one-way and two-way shuttle avoidance?

Answer 17

• One-way: Animal is placed on the same side of the shuttle box at the start of each trial and always moves from that side to the other
• Two-way: Animal moves in both directions on successive trials

Question 18

What’s easier to learn, one-way avoidance or two-avoidance?

Answer 18

One-way avoidance

Question 19

What are the two mechanisms proposed by the Two-Process Theory of Avoidance to explain discriminated avoidance learning?

Answer 19

• Classical conditioning of fear to the CS
• Instrumental reinforcement of the avoidance response though termination of the CS and fear reduction

Question 20

According to the Two-Process Theory of Avoidance, does classical conditioning or instrumental have to happen first to produce discriminated avoidance learning?

Answer 20

Classical conditioning

Question 21

What is the reinforcer in avoidance procedures?

Answer 21

The absence of an unpleasant stimulus

Question 22

In what type of procedure do subjects learn an instrumental response in order to escape from or terminate a CS that elicits fear?

Answer 22

Escape from fear procedures

Question 23

What is the basic strategy involved in an escape from fear procedure?

Answer 23

• Phase 1: Pure classical conditioning causes a CS to elicit fear
• Phase 2: Instrumental responding turns off the CS and the aversive stimulus is omitted

Question 24

Do results from escape from fear procedures support or contradict the Two-Process Theory of Avoidance?

Answer 24

Support

Question 25

If it's true that fear motivates and reinforces avoidance, what would the relationship between conditioning of fear and conditioning of avoidance behaviour look like?

Answer 25

As conditioning of fear increases, so should conditioning of avoidance (should be highly correlated)

Question 26

Independent measurement of fear during acquisition of avoidance behaviour is an approach based on what assumption?

Answer 26

Assumes that as conditioning of fear increases, so does conditioning of avoidance (they are highly correlated)

Question 27

Is the assumption that conditioning of fear and conditioning of avoidance are highly correlated always correct?

Answer 27

No

Question 28

When are the conditioning of fear and conditioning of avoidance highly correlated?

Answer 28

Only early in training

Question 29

T or F: Avoidance responding may persist without much fear exhibited towards the CS.

Answer 29

True

Question 30

T or F: Both people and animals are more fearful as they become more proficient in performing avoidance responses.

Answer 30

False. They are less fearful.

Question 31

T or F: Avoidance behaviour quickly terminates when the US is no longer presented.

Answer 31

False. It persists for a long time.

Question 32

What is response blocking?

Answer 32

When the subject is exposed to a fearful CS without the opportunity to make an avoidance response

Question 33

What is the procedure for extinguishing avoidance behaviour in which response blocking is utilized?

Answer 33

Flooding

Question 34

What is the most effective extinction procedure for avoidance behaviour?

Answer 34

Flooding

Question 35

Do longer or shorter exposures to the CS without US lead to more successful extinction of avoidance responding?

Answer 35

Longer exposures

Question 36

T or F: Blocking access to an avoidance response can facilitate extinction of avoidance, even if response blocking doesn't increase CS duration.

Answer 36

True

Question 37

Can instrumental avoidance responses still be learned if there is no warning stimulus (CS) prior to an aversive US?

Answer 37

Yes

Question 38

In which type of avoidance conditioning procedure are occurrences of the aversive stimulus not signalled by external stimuli?

Answer 38

Non-discriminative avoidance procedures

Question 39

What are the two time intervals that construct non-discriminative avoidance procedures?

Answer 39

- The shock-shock (S-S) interval: Time between shocks in the absence of an avoidance response - The response-shock (R-S) interval: Period of safety created by the avoidance response

Question 40

In non-discriminative avoidance procedures, what serves as the safety signal/conditioned inhibitor of fear?

Answer 40

Response cues

Question 41

In non-discriminative avoidance procedures, what serves as the reinforcement for avoidance behaviour?

Answer 41

The safety period that occurs after responding

Question 42

In non-discriminative avoidance procedures, do shorter or longer S-S intervals result in faster learning?

Answer 42

Shorter S-S intervals

Question 43

In non-discriminative avoidance procedures, do shorter or longer R-S intervals result in faster learning?

Answer 43

Longer R-S intervals

Question 44

In non-discriminative avoidance procedures, which interval must be longer for participants to learn that their response has an effect?

Answer 44

The R-S interval must be longer than the S-S interval

Question 45

T or F: Non-discriminative avoidance procedures require the participant to have temporal awareness.

Answer 45

True

Question 46

What are response feedback cues?

Answer 46

The internal stimuli produced by making skeletal responses

Question 47

What are safety signals?

Answer 47

Stimuli that signal the absence of an aversive event

Question 48

What does the safety-signal hypothesis propose?

Answer 48

The response feedback cues of an avoidance response become safety signals and provide reinforcement for that avoidance response

Question 49

What does the shock-frequency reduction hypothesis propose?

Answer 49

That a reduction in the frequency of shock rather than the complete avoidance of shock serves to reinforce avoidance behaviour

Question 50

Is the shock-frequency reduction hypothesis supported by evidence?

Answer 50

No

Question 51

T or F: A lack of concern with what an organism does during the first few trials of avoidance conditioning is a weakness of many theories.

Answer 51

True

Question 52

What are species-specific defence reactions (SSDRs)?

Answer 52

Species-typical responses performed during aversive situations

Question 53

What is assumed to control an organism's behaviour during the early stages of avoidance training?

Answer 53

Species-specific defence reactions (SSDRs)

Question 54

What is the major prediction of the SSDR theory?

Answer 54

Instrumental responses similar to the SSDR will be more easily learned in avoidance experiments than responses unrelated to SSDRs

Question 55

Has more attention been focused on studying avoidance or punishment?

Answer 55

Punishment

Question 56

What did Thorndike and Skinner wrongly conclude about punishment?

Answer 56

That punishment wasn't effective for controlling behaviour and only had temporary effects

Question 57

T or F: If applied incorrectly, punishment procedures can have unintended collateral effects.

Answer 57

True

Question 58

If a punishment procedure is effective, what happens to the target response?

Answer 58

It becomes suppressed

Question 59

How do laboratory studies of punishment typically begin?

Answer 59

With a preliminary phase in which the target response is first established with positive reinforcement

Question 60

What term refers to the period during which the opportunity to obtain positive reinforcement is removed?

Answer 60

Time-out

Question 61

T or F: Time-outs are inherently aversive.

Answer 61

False

Question 62

What type of punishment discourages behaviour by requiring the individual to go beyond simply rectifying a mistake?

Answer 62

Overcorrection

Question 63

Is the intensity of stimuli positively or negatively correlated to its effectiveness?

Answer 63

Positively (as intensity increases, so does its effectiveness)

Question 64

T or F: How an organism responds during their initial expose to punishment determines how they will respond to subsequent punishment.

Answer 64

True

Question 65

T or F: Gradually increasing the intensity of a stimulus is more effective for punishment than exposure to an intense stimulus from the beginning.

Answer 65

False

Question 66

Does initial exposure to mild punishment produce more or less response suppression when exposed to the mild punishment again?

Answer 66

Less suppression

Question 67

Does initial exposure to intense punishment produce more or less response suppression when later exposed to the mild punishment?

Answer 67

More suppression

Question 68

What is response-contingent aversive stimulation?

Answer 68

The aversive stimulus is triggered by the instrumental response

Question 69

What is response-independent aversive stimulation?

Answer 69

The aversive stimulus is presented regardless of behaviour

Question 70

Is response-contingent or response-independent aversive stimulation more effecting in suppressing behaviour?

Answer 70

Response-contingent aversive stimulation

Question 71

Does increasing the delay of punishment cause more or less suppression of behaviour?

Answer 71

Less

Question 72

Is a high or low FR schedule of punishment more effective at suppressing behaviour?

Answer 72

Low FR schedule