When a doctor taps just below your kneecap, your lower leg kicks forward without any thought or training. This response is an example of...
A reflex
✓
An instinct
A conditioned response
An operant behavior
Correct Answer
A reflex
A reflex is a simple, unlearned reaction of a specific body part to a specific stimulus, controlled by lower centers such as the spinal cord. An instinct is also innate but is a complex behavior of the whole organism, such as migration. A conditioned response is learned through pairing stimuli. An operant behavior is shaped by its consequences.
Category: Learning Basics
Question 2
How do psychologists define learning?
An inborn behavior pattern set off by seasonal change
A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge from experience
✓
A short-lived change in behavior caused by fatigue
Any change in behavior produced by physical maturation
Correct Answer
A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge from experience
Learning is a lasting change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience, which sets it apart from innate reflexes and instincts. An inborn behavior pattern set off by seasonal change describes an instinct. A short-lived change in behavior caused by fatigue is temporary, not learned. Any change in behavior produced by physical maturation reflects development rather than experience.
Category: Learning Basics
Question 3
In Pavlov's research, the meat powder that made the dogs salivate without any prior training was the...
Conditioned stimulus
Neutral stimulus
Unconditioned stimulus
✓
Unconditioned response
Correct Answer
Unconditioned stimulus
An unconditioned stimulus naturally triggers a reflexive response with no learning, as meat powder triggers salivation. Conditioned stimulus is a formerly neutral stimulus, such as a tone, that triggers a response only after pairing. Neutral stimulus is one that produces no relevant response at first. Unconditioned response is the salivation itself, not the food that causes it.
Category: Classical Conditioning
Question 4
Every time Maya opens the treat jar it rattles, and then her dog gets a treat. Now the dog drools as soon as it hears the rattle, before any treat appears. In this example, the rattle is the...
Unconditioned stimulus
Unconditioned response
Conditioned response
Conditioned stimulus
✓
Correct Answer
Conditioned stimulus
The rattle started as a neutral stimulus and, after repeated pairing with treats, now triggers drooling on its own, which makes it a conditioned stimulus. Unconditioned stimulus is the treat, which causes drooling without learning. Unconditioned response is drooling to the treat itself. Conditioned response is the learned drooling to the rattle, not the rattle.
Category: Classical Conditioning
Question 5
A coffee shop gives customers a free drink after every 10 drinks they buy. Which reinforcement schedule is this?
Fixed ratio
✓
Variable ratio
Fixed interval
Variable interval
Correct Answer
Fixed ratio
A fixed ratio schedule delivers reinforcement after a set number of responses, here every 10 purchases, and tends to produce a high response rate. Variable ratio reinforces after an unpredictable number of responses. Fixed interval reinforces the first response after a set amount of time. Variable interval reinforces after unpredictable amounts of time.
Category: Reinforcement Schedules
Question 6
Weeks after a child's excitement at an ice cream truck's song had died out, the child suddenly gets excited again on hearing it. This return of an extinguished response after a rest period is called...
Acquisition
Spontaneous recovery
✓
Higher-order conditioning
Stimulus generalization
Correct Answer
Spontaneous recovery
Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of rest, showing the association was weakened rather than erased. Acquisition is the initial learning phase. Higher-order conditioning uses an existing conditioned stimulus to condition a new one. Stimulus generalization is responding to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus.
Category: Conditioning Processes
Question 7
After being conditioned to fear a white rat, Little Albert also showed fear of a rabbit and a Santa Claus mask. This illustrates...
Stimulus discrimination
Extinction
Stimulus generalization
✓
Spontaneous recovery
Correct Answer
Stimulus generalization
Stimulus generalization occurs when a learned response spreads to stimuli that resemble the original conditioned stimulus, here other furry or fuzzy objects. Stimulus discrimination is the opposite, responding only to the original stimulus. Extinction is the weakening of a response when the conditioned stimulus appears without the unconditioned stimulus. Spontaneous recovery is the return of an extinguished response after rest.
Category: Conditioning Processes
Question 8
Once a tone reliably makes a dog salivate, a light is repeatedly flashed just before the tone, and no food ever follows the light. Soon the light alone makes the dog salivate. This is an example of...
Stimulus generalization
Spontaneous recovery
Taste aversion
Higher-order conditioning
✓
Correct Answer
Higher-order conditioning
In higher-order, or second-order, conditioning an already established conditioned stimulus, the tone, is used to condition a new neutral stimulus, the light. Stimulus generalization would involve responding to stimuli similar to the tone, and a light is not similar to a sound. Spontaneous recovery is the return of an extinguished response. Taste aversion is a learned avoidance of a food linked to illness.
Category: Conditioning Processes
Question 9
Jamal got sick a few hours after eating shrimp, and now even the smell of shrimp makes him queasy, although the shrimp did not cause his illness. What has Jamal developed?
Taste aversion
✓
Stimulus discrimination
Spontaneous recovery
Negative punishment
Correct Answer
Taste aversion
A taste aversion is a classically conditioned avoidance of a food that has been paired with nausea or illness, and it can form even when the illness comes hours later. Stimulus discrimination is responding only to a specific conditioned stimulus and not to similar ones. Spontaneous recovery is the return of an extinguished response. Negative punishment is an operant consequence that removes something pleasant.
Category: Classical Conditioning
Question 10
A student watches a skilled tennis player's serve closely and can recall every detail of it later, but lacks the strength and coordination to perform it. Which step of the modeling process is the student unable to complete?
Attention
Reproduction
✓
Retention
Motivation
Correct Answer
Reproduction
Reproduction is the step of actually performing the observed behavior, which requires the physical ability to do it. Attention, focusing on the model, was completed because the student watched closely. Retention, remembering what was seen, was completed because the student recalls the details. Motivation is wanting to perform the behavior, and nothing suggests the student lacks it.
Category: Observational Learning
Question 11
A car's seatbelt alarm beeps until the driver buckles up, and the beeping then stops. The driver now buckles up right away. Which consequence increased the buckling behavior?
Positive reinforcement
Negative punishment
Negative reinforcement
✓
Positive punishment
Correct Answer
Negative reinforcement
Negative reinforcement strengthens a behavior by removing an unpleasant stimulus, here the beeping that stops once the belt is buckled. Positive reinforcement would add a pleasant stimulus. Negative punishment removes a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior. Positive punishment adds an unpleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior.
Category: Operant Conditioning
Question 12
A teenager who misses curfew loses the use of the family car for a week, and the late arrivals stop. Which consequence is this?
Positive punishment
Negative reinforcement
Positive reinforcement
Negative punishment
✓
Correct Answer
Negative punishment
Negative punishment decreases a behavior by taking away something pleasant, here access to the car. Positive punishment would add something unpleasant, such as a scolding. Negative reinforcement removes something unpleasant to increase a behavior. Positive reinforcement adds something pleasant to increase a behavior.
Category: Operant Conditioning
Question 13
To teach a pigeon to turn in a full circle, a trainer first rewards any slight turn, then only larger turns, and finally only complete circles. This technique is called...
Shaping
✓
Extinction
Latent learning
Modeling
Correct Answer
Shaping
Shaping reinforces successive approximations of a target behavior until only the complete behavior earns reinforcement, a method Skinner used to train pigeons in complex tasks. Extinction is the weakening of a response that is no longer reinforced or paired. Latent learning is learning that stays hidden until there is a reason to show it. Modeling is learning by watching and imitating others.
Category: Operant Conditioning
Question 14
Which of these is a secondary reinforcer, one that gains its value through association with other reinforcers?
Food
Money
✓
Water
Sleep
Correct Answer
Money
Money has no innate value but is reinforcing because it can be exchanged for things people need and want, which makes it a secondary reinforcer. Food, water and sleep are primary reinforcers, which satisfy biological needs and are reinforcing without any learning.
Category: Operant Conditioning
Question 15
In a classroom, students earn stickers for good behavior and later trade the stickers in for prizes. This system is called a...
Shaping procedure
Latent learning system
Token economy
✓
Vicarious reinforcement plan
Correct Answer
Token economy
A token economy rewards desired behaviors with tokens that can be exchanged for other rewards, and it is used in schools, prisons and mental hospitals. Shaping procedure reinforces closer and closer approximations of one target behavior. Latent learning system is not a reward program; latent learning is hidden learning shown later. Vicarious reinforcement plan is not a term for this, since vicarious reinforcement comes from watching a model being rewarded.
Category: Operant Conditioning
Question 16
A slot machine pays out after an unpredictable number of plays. Which reinforcement schedule does it use?
Fixed interval
Variable interval
Fixed ratio
Variable ratio
✓
Correct Answer
Variable ratio
A variable ratio schedule reinforces after an unpredictable number of responses, producing a high, steady response rate that is very resistant to extinction, which is why gambling is so persistent. Fixed interval reinforces after a set amount of time. Variable interval reinforces after unpredictable amounts of time. Fixed ratio reinforces after a set, predictable number of responses.
Category: Reinforcement Schedules
Question 17
A hospital patient can press a button for pain medication, but the pump releases a dose only if at least one hour has passed since the last dose. Which reinforcement schedule is this?
Fixed interval
✓
Variable ratio
Fixed ratio
Variable interval
Correct Answer
Fixed interval
A fixed interval schedule reinforces the first response after a set period of time, here one hour, no matter how many times the button is pressed in between. Variable ratio and fixed ratio depend on the number of responses rather than time. Variable interval would make the waiting time unpredictable instead of a set hour.
Category: Reinforcement Schedules
Question 18
Which reinforcement schedule is the fastest way to teach an organism a brand-new behavior?
Variable ratio
Continuous reinforcement
✓
Fixed interval
Variable interval
Correct Answer
Continuous reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement rewards every occurrence of the behavior, so the link between the behavior and its consequence is learned quickly. Variable ratio, fixed interval and variable interval are partial schedules that reinforce only some responses, which slows initial learning even though partial schedules make behavior harder to extinguish.
Category: Reinforcement Schedules
Question 19
Jordan rode to campus as a passenger every day for a year without trying to learn the way. When the car broke down, Jordan biked the route without a single wrong turn. This shows...
Shaping
Habituation
Latent learning
✓
Stimulus generalization
Correct Answer
Latent learning
Latent learning is learning that occurs without obvious reinforcement and stays hidden until there is a reason to show it, as Edward Tolman demonstrated with rats in mazes. Shaping requires reinforcing successive approximations, which did not happen here. Habituation is a decreasing response to a repeated stimulus. Stimulus generalization is responding to stimuli similar to a conditioned stimulus.
Category: Cognition and Learning
Question 20
In Bandura's Bobo doll research, children who saw the adult punished for hitting the doll were less likely to imitate the attack. This effect of seeing the consequence delivered to someone else is called...
Vicarious reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Spontaneous recovery
Vicarious punishment
✓
Correct Answer
Vicarious punishment
Vicarious punishment occurs when seeing a model punished makes an observer less motivated to copy the behavior. Vicarious reinforcement is the opposite, with a rewarded model making imitation more likely. Negative reinforcement strengthens a behavior by removing something unpleasant from the learner. Spontaneous recovery is the return of an extinguished conditioned response.
Category: Observational Learning