Classical & Operant Conditioning Application Questions

Studying for a an exam reduces stress

NR (Neg. reinforcement) bc removing negative stimulus stress and need to do this more often

After Little Albert learned to fear a white mouse he also started demonstrating a fear reaction when he saw other white objects such as a white rabbit or a man with a white beard. Which classical conditioning phenomenon is being described in this example?  

Generalization

Dalton experiences an intense thrill whenever he buys a new outfit.  After a while just arriving at the mall makes him feel excited.  Eventually, however Dalton only feels excitement when enters Banana Republic, but not any other clothing store.  Which classical conditioning phenomenon is being described in this example?

Discrimination

Coretta is conditioning her dog Buttons to salivate to the theme song for the television show the Big Bang Theory by playing that song just before feeding Buttons a treat.  Coretta makes sure she plays the song every time before she gives her dog a treat.  Which classical conditioning phenomenon is being described in this example?

Acquisition

Playing soccer is thrilling to Thurston and it causes his heart to race.  After playing many games on his school soccer field he finds that just visiting the field makes his heart race a bit.  After he graduates Thurston visits the field several times but finds that the field no longer makes his heart race.  Which classical conditioning phenomenon is being described in this example? 

Extinction

 Five years after graduating Thurston returns to visit his school and takes a walk out onto the soccer field.  To his surprise he finds his heart starts to race a bit.  Which classical conditioning phenomenon is being described in this example?  

Spontaneous recovery

An aggressive duck at the park startled three-year-old Jill one day, and now she experiences fear whenever she sees ducks. Her parents are concerned because lately Jill has been exhibiting fear reactions to all types of birds, even Big Bird.  Which classical conditioning phenomenon is being described in this example?  

Generalization

Zoey has always experienced anxiety when taking tests and finds that she finds herself shaking even if the teacher simply mentions the word test.  Interestingly if the teacher mentions that the class will be taking a quiz, she does not feel shaky.  Which classical conditioning phenomenon is being described in this example? 

Discrimination

Nikki got sick after eating chicken noodle soup and as a consequence feels queasy just looking at chicken noodle soup.  However, she has also found that she feels queasy when looking at any other type soup as well.  Which classical conditioning phenomenon is being described in this example?

Generalization

Pavlov trained his dogs to salivate to the sound of a tuning fork, but after numerous presentations of the tuning fork that were not followed by meat powder, the dog stopped salivating to the tuning fork.  Which classical conditioning phenomenon is being described in this example?  

Extinction

 Whenever Monica’s roommate sprayed perfume it caused Monica to sneeze and eventually just looking at her roommate's perfume on the sink made her sneeze.  Then for a few weeks her roommate stopped wearing perfume and eventually the sight of the perfume bottle no longer made Monica sneeze.  Her roommate went away for several weeks and took her perfume with her, but when her roommate returned and unpacked her perfume, Monica sneezed.   Which classical conditioning phenomenon is being described in this example?   

Spontaneous recovery

for the NP, NR, PP, PR here’s how to do it

how to do NP/PP, etc:

what behavior? did the behavior change? what is added or removed? does it make the behavior reoccur or make it happen less? If you add a bad thing then it's positive punishment !! this is the process!

Peter is in class and keeps swearing, each time he does his teacher asks him to put a dime in a jar, since this policy has been implemented Peter’s swearing has slowed considerably.

NP

Three-year-old Benjamin is at the grocery store and behaves himself so he gets to choose a treat at the checkout.  The next time he is taken to the grocery store he is well-behaved.

PR

Twelve-year-old Nina developed a habit of slamming the door to her bedroom when she was not happy about something and this behavior bothered her parents.  One day when Nina came home from school she realized her father had removed the door from her bedroom.  After the door was returned (two weeks later) Nina never slammed her door again. 

NP

Harold is with his sister and teases her just to make her angry.  She hits him every time he teases her, he enjoys it and thinks it is funny and teases her even more frequently.

PR

Greta is out with friends and comes home over 2 hours late.  Her parents do not allow her to use the car for two weeks.  Although she hates it, she continues to come home late. 

NA

When Eddie drives he likes to drive fast, really fast.  In the last week he received two speeding tickets and had to pay $250 of his own money.  Eddie now obeys all traffic laws.

NP

When Eddie drives he likes to drive fast, really fast.  In the last week, he has received two speeding tickets that will show up on his driving record, Eddie now obeys all traffic laws.

PP

Simone has a terrible headache and takes a new type of migraine medicine.  Almost immediately the headache goes away.  As a result, she takes this same medicine again in the future.

NR

Robert saw the icon for his e-mail flashing at the bottom of his screen; it was so annoying that in order to make it stop, he opened his e-mail to read the new message.  

NR

Sarah is sick of her hair so she got her hair cut in a new style. After a number of her friends complimented her on the new look.  The next time Sarah goes to have her hair done she chooses the same style.

PR

Shirley had a deadline and submitted her work. Her boss praised her recent work in the advertising agency.  She feels great about the compliment and works even harder. 

PR

If every member of a psychology class does not complete their assigned reading, all the students are given twice as much on the next assignment.  After this happens a few times, not a single student fails to do the reading.  Which operant conditioning consequence did the members of the class receive? 

PP

The theme song for the ride “It’s a small world after all” would not stop playing the entire time that Martha was on the ride that seems to last forever.  Which operant conditioning consequence did Martha receive?

NA

When Karen sees her boyfriend she is nice and he brings her flowers all week; she loves flowers (and her boyfriend) and is always nice to him now.

PR

Tayla’s mother plays Barry Manilow music very loud (Tayla hates Barry Manilow) if Tayla is late coming downstairs for dinner.  Which operant conditioning consequence did Tayla receive?

NA or PP

Frank likes Nicki, but often makes fun of her and pulls her ponytail.  She is irritated and calls him names, but he loves the attention and does it more often.  Which operant conditioning consequence did Frank receive?

PR

Every time Dan plays cards with his friends, he cheats.  Finally, after catching him for the 3rd time, his friends refuse to let him join in the game for a week.  When they finally allow him to play again, Dan no longer cheats.  Which operant conditioning consequence did Dan receive?

NP

Thirteen-year-old Delilah sees a fast-food restaurant, and begins screaming that she must have French fries or she won’t survive.  Her parents surrender and drive in for a large supply that makes Delilah stop screaming. The next time Delilah wants something from her parents, she throws a fit and her parents give in to her demands.  Which operant conditioning consequence did Delilah receive?

NR

Your doctor treats a condition you have with a shot he gives you in the office. The shot causes your heart rate to increase rapidly. Soon, just entering the doctor’s office causes your heart to race. (shot, doctor’s office, heart rate increase)

What is UCS, UCR, NS/CS, CR

UCS: shot

UCR: Heart rate increase 

NS/CS: doctor’s office

CR: heart rate increase

A young child who reaches out to pet a barking dog is bitten by the dog and cries.  Every time she hears a dog, she whimpers. (whimpers, hears a dog, dog bite, pain-cried)

UCS: dog bite

UCR: pain-cried

NS/CS: hears a dog

CR: whimpers

A BMW commercial has lots of pretty people in it.  People who watch the commercial find the people pleasing to look at.  With repeated viewing, they begin to associate the car with the pleasant feeling. (car, pleasant feeling, pretty people)

UCS: pretty ppl

UCR: pleasant feeling

NS/CS: car

CR: pleasant feeling

One time when Greg was wrestling, he accidentally tripped Mr. Williams.  Mr. Williams was so angry that he yelled at Greg until he was blue in the face.  Now, whenever Greg sees Mr. Williams, he gets nervous because he thinks he is going to get yelled at. (yelled at, Mr. Williams, embarrassed, nervous)

UCS: yelled at

UCR: embarrased

NS/CS: Mr. Williams

CR: nervous 

One time, long, long ago one very lucky girl named Amy got the opportunity to meet David Beckham.  She fell madly in love with him and could think of nothing else.  Now, if she sees a picture of him, her heart begins to race. (heart races, love, picture, David Beckham)

UCS: David Beckham

UCR: love

NS/CS: picture

CR: heart races

your dog Spot becomes very excited when he hears the leash rattle because it is associated with going on a walk which makes Spot very happy. (leash rattle, walk, happy)

UCS: walk

UCR: happy

NS/CS: leash rattle

CR: happy

You adopt a dog who was beaten by his previous owners.  The dog becomes afraid and agitated when anyone raises a hand.  Every time the dog was beaten the previous owner raised his hand.  (raise a hand, beaten, pain, afraid)

UCS: beaten

UCR: pain

NS/CS: raise a hand

CR: afraid

Your significant other who you love and adore uses coconut scented shampoo.  When you smell coconuts while walking through the grocery store you feel happy. (significant other, happy, coconut smell)

UCS: s/o

UCR: happy

NS/CS: coco smell

CR: happy

Participants in a study saw red pens and heard pleasant sounds; they saw green pens and heard unpleasant music.  Later when the participants were given a choice between a red and a green pen, they chose the red one.  When they were asked why they chose red, they did not make the connection (pleasant music, happy, red pen)

UCS: pleasant music

UCR: happy

NS/CS: red pens

CR: happy

You are introduced to a new person (on a blind date) and they remind you in appearance, voice and mannerisms of someone you dislike a great deal because they bullied you in junior high school.  Despite the fact that your blind date is smart, attractive and fun you do not like them.  (bully in HS, dislike, blind date look a-like in appearance, voice, manner)

UCS: bully in HS

UCR: dislike

NS/CS: seeing blind datte look a like in apperance, voice, manner

CR: dislike

Imagine you have a friend who keeps the temperature in her home so high that each occasion on which you visit you find yourself perspiring.  The last time you visited her, you noticed that you began to perspire and become uncomfortable even before reaching her home. (friend keeps temp high, perspiring, thought of friend’s house)

UCS: friend keeps temp high

UCR: perspiring

NS/CS: thought of friend’s house

CR: perspiring

Every time someone flushes a toilet in your apartment building, the shower becomes very, very hot and causes you to jump back (to avoid being scalded!!) Over time, you begin to jump back automatically after hearing a distant toilet flush in the apartment building. (shower gets hot, toilet flush, jumps back)

UCS: shower gets hot

UCR: jumps back

NS/CS: toilet flush

CR: jumps back

After swimming in a lake near his home one day, Adam finds two slimy, gross, blood-sucking leeches on his leg. He was revolted by the experiences of touching their slimy bodies, and ripping them off his leg. Now every time Adam drives by the lake, he shudders in disgust (revolt/disgust, leeches, seeing the lake)

UCS: leeches

UCR: revolt/disgust

NS/CS: seeing the lake

CR: revolt/disgust