Ryan's Learning Theory & Bx

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT true regarding sensory memory?
Select one:
A. It has virtually an unlimited capacity.
B. It does not retain information for more than 2 seconds.
C. It stores altered forms of the original stimulus.
D. It stores iconic, echoic, and haptic memories.

Answer 1

Correct Answer is: C
In the three-stage model of memory, sensory memory is the first stage. It preserves a large amount of sensory information for a very brief period of time (only a second or two). Information from all the senses can be stored in sensory memory. Visual stimuli are stored as “iconic” memories; auditory stimuli are stored as “echoic” memories; and kinesthetic stimuli are stored as “haptic” memories.

It stores altered forms of the original stimulus.

Contrary to this choice, sensory memories are believed to be represented in the form of the original stimuli; that is, they are not stored in an altered form.

Question 2

A person stops and asks a parking attendant for directions after getting lost while driving to an appointment. The attendant states, "Make a left at the first red light. Go four blocks until you reach a stop sign and turn right onto Main Street. About three blocks down Main, look for a large red sign at the entrance to the parking lot." What type of memory is needed to hold such information?
Select one:
A. procedural memory
B. working memory
C. short term memory
D. long term memory

Answer 2

Correct Answer is: B
The type of memory needed to hold the directions in one’s mind while working on it is called working memory. In the 1980s, Baddeley and Hitch coined the term “working memory” for the ability to hold several facts or thoughts in memory temporarily while solving a problem or performing a task. Baddeley defined the process of rapid verbal repetition of the to-be-remembered information to facilitate maintaining it in working memory, as an “articulatory loop.” He found there is a neural system or central executive in the frontal portion of the brain responsible for processing information in the “working memory.”
Short-term memory* holds information in mind for only a few seconds as it is processed. Long-term memory* is where such processed information is permanently stored. Working memory is an intermediary and active memory system in the information processing area of the brain (* incorrect options).

Question 3

The tendency to respond to a new stimulus as if it's the original conditioned stimulus is referred to as:
Select one:
A. stimulus generalization
B. higher-order conditioning
C. spontaneous recovery
D. stimulus discrimination

Answer 3

Correct Answer is: A
In classical conditioning, stimulus generalization is the tendency to respond to a new stimulus as if it’s the original conditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, it’s the tendency to respond to a new stimulus as if it’s the original discriminative stimulus.
In classical conditioning, higher order conditioning* refers to the process by which a neutral stimulus comes to act as a conditioned stimulus by being paired with another stimulus that already evokes a conditioned response; and spontaneous recovery* refers to the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response. Stimulus discrimination* refers to the tendency not to have a conditioned response to a new stimulus that’s similar to the original conditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, it’s the tendency for a response to happen only when a particular stimulus is present (* incorrect options).

Question 4

In implosive therapy:
Select one:
A. the client is gradually exposed, through the imagination, to a feared stimulus, one step at a time. Incorrect
B. a client is immediately exposed, through the imagination, to a feared stimulus at its maximum intensity.
C. the client is gradually exposed, in-vivo, to a feared stimulus, one step at a time.
D. a client is immediately exposed, in-vivo, to a feared stimulus at its maximum intensity.

Answer 4

Correct Answer is: B
Implosive therapy involves imaginal exposure to a feared stimulus. The person is immediately exposed to the stimulus at its maximum intensity. The purpose of implosive therapy is to extinguish a person’s fear; in addition, the technique incorporates psychodynamic themes thought to underlie the fear into the imagery.

Question 5

The misinformation effect refers to the impairment in memory for the past that occurs after exposure to misleading information. Research on susceptibility and resistance to this effect has found:
Select one:
A. the impairing effect of misleading information gets weaker over time
B. subjects misled just before testing tend to perform better than those who are misled just after witnessing the event
C. warnings about potential misinformation may inhibit its impairing effect Correct
D. the passage of time appears to increase discrepancy detection ability

Answer 5

Correct Answer is: C
According to Loftus’ Discrepancy Detection principle, susceptibility to misinformation is inversely related to the ability to notice discrepancies. Therefore, if an individual is aware that post-event information may not be correct then the probability of the misinformation effect is reduced. Warning individuals before they receive post-event information that it might be inaccurate or misleading, increases vigilance and the likelihood that discrepancies between actual and suggested events will be spotted. Resistance to post-event suggestion is greatest when an individual has a strong, accurate original memory. Consistent information also improves memory performance.
Research indicates greater susceptibility to misinformation is associated with: the passage of time, it lowers discrepancy detection ability* and the impairing effect of misleading information gets stronger over time; longer retention times, which decrease memory performance; timing of reporting/testing, individuals misled immediately before being tested tend to perform worse than those misled immediately after witnessing the event (* incorrect options). Age is also associated with varying susceptibility to misinformation with young children more susceptible than older children and adults and the elderly more susceptible than are younger adults.

Question 6

A rat is placed in a Skinner box which has two levers. Pressing Lever #1 delivers a food pellet on a variable interval schedule on an average of every 30 seconds. Lever # 2 also delivers a food pellet on a variable interval schedule, but on an average of every 2 minutes. We would expect the rat to press Lever # 1 in what proportion of the total lever presses?
Select one:
A. 0.4
B. 0.6
C. 0.8
D. 1

Answer 6

Correct Answer is: C
You may have been able to intuitively guess the correct answer. The proportion of lever presses would match the relative frequency of the reinforcement schedule. Since the reinforcement schedule of Lever # 1 compared to Lever # 2 is 4:1, Lever # 1 would receive four-fifths (or 80%) of the total number of presses.

Question 7

A behavior therapist would likely view anxiety as the result of:
Select one:
A. classical conditioning, in which an aversive stimulus or negative life event served as an unconditioned stimulus.
B. classical conditioning, in which an aversive stimulus or negative life event served as a conditioned stimulus.
C. operant conditioning, in which a negative life event served as a punisher.
D. operant conditioning, in which the person is negatively reinforced for avoiding an anxiety-evoking stimulus.

Answer 7

Correct Answer is: A
This is a good question, because it requires you to have a good grasp of the classical conditioning paradigm as well as understand some of the differences between classical and operant conditioning. First, you might remember that classical conditioning is associated with the acquisition of involuntary responses, whereas operant conditioning is associated with voluntary responses.
classical conditioning, in which an aversive stimulus or negative life event served as an unconditioned stimulus.

classical conditioning, in which an aversive stimulus or negative life event served as a conditioned stimulus.

If you remembered this, you should have been able to narrow the choices down to these two options, since anxiety is an involuntary, uncontrollable response. According to the classical conditioning model of anxiety, a stimulus or event that naturally evokes anxiety (the unconditioned stimulus, or US) is paired with a previously neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus, CS) until the neutral stimulus comes to elicit anxiety. For example, being stuck in an elevator (the US), by being paired with elevators in general (the CS), might cause an elevator phobia.

operant conditioning, in which the person is negatively reinforced for avoiding an anxiety-evoking stimulus.

If you chose this response, you may have been thinking about avoidance conditioning, in which the avoidance response is negatively reinforced. However, in avoidance conditioning, the actual experience of anxiety is acquired through classical conditioning. Negative reinforcement is the mechanism that underlies the avoidance behavior, not the anxiety itself.

Question 8

In Skinner's operant conditioning paradigm, the evidence indicating that learning has taken place is:
Select one:
A. response amplitude.
B. latency of response.
C. rate of responding.
D. quality of response

Answer 8

Correct Answer is: C
The cumulative response curves, which are always pictured in chapters on learning, show how much and at what rate the organism responded to the reinforcement. Thus, of the choices listed, rate of responding provides the best index of whether learning has taken place.

Question 9

The tension-reduction hypothesis proposes that alcohol abuse is due to the effects of:
Select one:
A. tolerance
B. withdrawal
C. habituation
D. conditioning

Answer 9

Correct Answer is: D
Conger’s (1956) tension-reduction hypothesis proposed that alcohol consumption reduces stress, which reinforces alcohol use, resulting in a greater likelihood of alcohol consumption in times of stress. Thus, the basis of the theory is operant conditioning

Question 10

The first step a parent takes in teaching a child to feed the family cat is showing her how to put the cat food into the dish. After mastering that task, she is taught to open a can of cat food and then put it into the dish. The child is then taught to open the pantry door, take out a can of cat food, open it, and put it in the dish. This is an example of:
Select one:
A. stimulus control training
B. forward chaining
C. backward chaining
D. sequential training

Answer 10

Correct Answer is: C
The child has learned a complex behavior by learning the individual responses in the “behavior chain.” The procedure in this question is best described as backward chaining: the parent began by teaching the last behavior and then worked backward from there.

Question 11

There is evidence that the effectiveness of systematic desensitization for reducing anxiety is actually due to repeated exposure to the feared stimulus, which leads to extinction of the anxiety response. However, systematic desensitization was originally developed as an application of
Select one:
A. negative reinforcement.
B. counterconditioning. Correct
C. stimulus discrimination.
D. avoidance conditioning.

Answer 11

Correct Answer is: B
In systematic desensitization, anxiety-arousing stimuli are paired with stimuli that produce an incompatible response (often relaxation). In other words, it was designed to use counterconditioning in order to eliminate an anxiety response. Some research suggests, however, that it is actually just the exposure to anxiety-arousing stimuli, without aversive consequences, that explains the effectiveness of this technique.

Question 12

A sequence of behaviors, in which each behavior serves as reinforcement for the previous behavior, is the outcome of
Select one:
A. chaining.
B. shaping.
C. positive reinforcement.
D. graded exposure.

Answer 12

Correct Answer is: A
According to the operant conditioning paradigm, chaining is how complex behaviors made up of a sequence of simpler behaviors are developed. In chaining, each response serves as reinforcement for the previous behavior and a discriminant stimulus for the next behavior on the chain.

Question 13

In escape conditioning,
Select one:
A. an aversive stimulus can be avoided by escaping from it in response to a discriminative stimulus.
B. experimental neurosis is usually the result.
C. learned helplessness is usually the result.
D. the aversive stimulus is unavoidable.

Answer 13

Correct Answer is: D
In escape conditioning, an organism learns to emit a response in order to terminate an aversive stimulus. An example would be applying an electric shock to a rat and terminating that shock when the rat presses a lever. In other words, the aversive stimulus cannot be avoided.
an aversive stimulus can be avoided by escaping from it in response to a discriminative stimulus.

By comparison, the this choice describes avoidance conditioning, whereby a discriminative stimulus (i.e., a cue such as a light flashing) is presented before the aversive stimulus is applied, and the organism can learn to avoid the pain before it hits.

The escape conditioning paradigm has been applied to a number of real-life problems, such as procrastination, whereby beginning the task in question is viewed as the aversive stimulus from which the person escapes, and marital problems, whereby particular spousal interactions are aversive and escaped from, leading to distance and isolation.

Question 14

A bell is repeatedly paired with food resulting in a conditioned response. The bell is then paired with a light until it too produces the conditioned response. If the light is then presented without food this would be an example of:
Select one:
A. Blocking
B. Classical extinction
C. Higher-order conditioning
D. Discriminative stimulus

Answer 14

Correct Answer is: B
This question attempted to distract you with a description of higher-order conditioning. However, the key to the question was the last sentence, which described the more basic procedure of classical extinction.

Question 15

From the perspective of Bandura's social learning theory, "functional value" refers to:
Select one:
A. external reinforcements.
B. anticipated consequences.
C. self-efficacy beliefs.
D. relationship to previous learning.

Answer 15

Correct Answer is: B
Functional value is pretty much what it sounds like. According to Bandura, a behavior has functional value when the person anticipates that performing it will result in desirable consequences (i.e., when the behavior serves a function).

Question 16

Which of the following behavioral techniques is the best example of negative punishment?
Select one:
A. differential reinforcement for other behaviors (DRO)
B. response cost
C. reducing the amount of time a child is grounded due to “good behavior”
D. a spanking

Answer 16

Correct Answer is: B
Operant behavioral interventions rely on consequences to increase or decrease the frequency or strength of a behavior, and reinforcement and punishment are the methods used to deliver those consequences. Reinforcement increases the strength or probability of a response, punishment decreases the strength of a response. Reinforcement and punishment can be positive or negative; positive means a stimulus is applied following a response; negative means a stimulus is removed following a response. Thus, negative punishment involves removal of a stimulus following a response in order to decrease that response. Response cost involves removal of a prespecified reward every time a person performs an undesired behavior. For example, a child’s allowance may be reduced or skipped if the child yells at her parents. Thus, of the choices listed, it is the only example of negative punishment.

Question 17

Procedural memory is to declarative memory as:
Select one:
A. skill is to fact
B. fact is to experience
C. explicit is to implicit
D. echoic is to iconic

Answer 17

Correct Answer is: A
This question is asking you to compare different models of memory which can be confusing. Long-term memory is categorized into explicit (or declarative) and implicit (or procedural). Explicit or declarative memory refers to retrieval with a conscious awareness of remembering. This includes memory of facts such as “George Washington was the first president of the United States,” as well as the meaning of words (semantic memory), and memory of episodic (autobiographical) events. Implicit or procedural memory is an unconscious type of retrieval for automatic skills and memory for how to do things, i.e. procedures.
skill is to fact

This choice correctly associates procedural memory to skill and declarative memory to fact.

explicit is to implicit

In this choice, the terms are reversed.

fact is to experience

To some extent, the terms are reversed.

echoic is to iconic

This refers to the auditory (echoic) and visual (iconic) storage of sensory memory, which only holds information for a few seconds.

Question 18

The best example of an intrinsic reward system is:
Select one:
A. a person working hard 8 hours a day in order to obtain respect and recognition from his superiors.
B. a hyperactive child placed on a token-reward system of reinforcement.
C. studying hard to pass the psychology licensing exam.
D. a boy collecting stamps.

Answer 18

Correct Answer is: D
This question merely requires you to think about the word “intrinsic,” which means internal. For the incorrect choices, external rewards are motivating the behaviors; however, a boy collecting stamps is usually motivated by his own intrinsic interest in the hobby. You should know that problems occur when we take something that is intrinsically rewarding and provide extrinsic rewards for it. Then, the person typically stops working for the intrinsic rewards and attributes his behavior to the extrinsic rewards. That’s been termed “turning play into work.”

Question 19

Which of the following syndromes or conditions is maintained or triggered by environmental cues to a large extent?
Select one:
A. hypomanic episodes
B. overeating
C. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
D. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Answer 19

Correct Answer is: B
A number of studies have shown that overeating is to a large extent triggered and maintained by environmental cues. For instance, research shows that portion size is a better predictor of how much a person will eat than internal cues such as hunger or satiation, and many authors argue that eating is an automatic behavior triggered by environmental cues that most people are unaware of or unable to ignore. Some studies also suggest that obese people are more sensitive to environmental cues that trigger eating than others, though others have shown that these cues have similar effects on both obese and non-obese individuals. Stimulus control, a behavior technique that seeks to reduce exposure to environmental cues that trigger eating, is often used in the treatment of obesity.

Question 20

A babysitter is watching her neighbor's 4-year old. The child wants some candy, but the babysitter was told by his mother not to give him any. After listening to the boy's whining for ten minutes, the babysitter gives in. She gives the boy some candy and he stops whining. In this situation, the babysitter's behavior (giving the child candy) is the result of
Select one:
A. positive punishment.
B. negative punishment.
C. positive reinforcement.
D. negative reinforcement.

Answer 20

Correct Answer is: D
In this situation, the babysitter’s “candy-giving behavior” has increased because it caused a stimulus to be removed (the child’s whining). This is negative reinforcement.

Question 21

To improve the accuracy of the eyewitness testimony of a six-year-old child, it is advisable to
Select one:
A. practice with the child before the testimony is given.
B. ask yes-no questions. Incorrect
C. ask the same question more than once.
D. ask open-ended questions.

Answer 21

Correct Answer is: D
Research with children aged four to eight has shown that they have reliable memories and can give credible eyewitness testimony, but the questioner needs to be knowledgeable about children and ask the right types of questions. For instance, open ended questions, as opposed to yes-no questions are more effective, because the latter tend to function as cues or suggestions regarding how children are expected to answer. Also, repeating the same question can compromise the accuracy of children’s testimony, because it could suggest to the child that her previous answer was unacceptable.

Question 22

Avoidance behavior is difficult to treat because:
Select one:
A. classical conditioning models don’t apply.
B. treatments require unacceptable levels of pain or other aversive applications.
C. the feared stimulus is never presented.
D. conditioning was done originally on an intermittent schedule.

Answer 22

Feedback
Correct Answer is: C
This is a familiar question. You might have seen something like it before. Once you change the terms into “English,” it shouldn’t be difficult. Basically it says that a fear (think of a phobia) is difficult to treat because you hardly ever confront it. If someone is afraid of bridges and never travels across a river on a bridge, you can never treat the person. Remember that treatments for phobias include at some point directly confronting the fear, through direct exposure to the feared object. If we avoid the object, we never get the chance to extinguish the reaction. None of the other alternatives comes as close to answering the question. As a test-taking strategy, it’s a good idea to translate a question into “English” and give it a simple and exaggerated example. Then, find the answer that best explains your example.

Question 23

According to behavioral theory, depression is generally considered to result from:
Select one:
A. negative punishment
B. noncontingent punishment
C. prolonged extinction
D. having to make finer and finer stimulus discriminations

Answer 23

Correct Answer is: C
There are several behavioral models of depression but probably the oldest is the operant conditioning model, which describes it as the result of being on an extinction schedule for an extended period of time. The depressed person has had little or no access to reinforcement.