psych chapter 6

What is learning, according to your text?

a relatively durable change in behaviour or knowledge that is due to experience

Which of the following is a conclusion we can draw as a result of decades of research on animal models of learning?

Many principles of learning discovered in animal research apply quite well to humans

Conditioning is a specific type of learning. What does it involve?

learning associations between events that occur in the environment

Which of the following responses by dogs in Pavlov's laboratory triggered Pavlov's interest in conditioning?

salivation right before food was placed in their mouths

A neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus. What is this process called

classical conditioning

Pavlov found that meat powder placed on a dog's tongue will make the dog salivate. What is the meat powder in Pavlov's terms?

unconditioned stimulus

What was the unconditioned response in Pavlov's original experiment on classical conditioning?

salivation elicited by meat powder

What is the stimulus that naturally evokes an unlearned response in classical conditioning

unconditioned stimulus

In classical conditioning, what is the stimulus that is originally neutral but comes to elicit a response as a result of learning?

conditioned stimulus

What is a conditioned stimulus?

a previously neutral stimulus that, through conditioning, acquires the capacity to elicit a conditioned response

What is the major difference between a conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus?

one reliably elicits the response of interest prior to conditioning while the other does not

Carson used to really enjoy lime sherbet, and when he was in Mexico he tried frozen lime margaritas. After his fourth margarita Carson became extremely ill. Now he finds that even the sight of lime sherbet in a bowl can make him feel queasy. What is the unconditioned stimulus in this example?

the illness that followed the fourth margarita

Darrel was dancing with his new girlfriend. When the band played "Love Song", his girlfriend gave him a long passionate kiss. Now Darrel finds that every time he hears "Love Song" on the radio, he becomes mildly excited. What is the kiss, in this example?

unconditioned stimulus

Veronica had been working at Zenex Industries for eight months when her boss called her to his office. The boss told Veronica she was being laid off. Veronica could feel her heart pounding as she listened to the news. Veronica got a new job, but every time her new boss asks to talk to her in private, Veronica feels a little faint. What is the unconditioned response in this example?

her pounding heart when she heard she was being laid off

One Saturday, Lacey was sitting at home when the telephone rang. A local company was making promotional calls and told Lacey she had just won a $1,000 gift certificate. She felt a rush of excitement at the thought of what she could do with $1,000. Now Lacey finds that whenever she hears a telephone ring, she feels a surge of excitement. What is the rush of excitement that Lacey felt when she heard she had won, in this example?

unconditioned response

Holly was dancing with her new boyfriend. When the band started playing "Fever" her boyfriend gave her a long, passionate kiss. Now, when Holly hears "Fever," she becomes a little flushed. What is the conditioned stimulus, in this example?

the song "Fever"

Floyd had been working at Qualton Enterprises for two years when his boss asked to see him in her office. The boss told Floyd he was being laid off as a result of company downsizing. Floyd could feel his heart pounding as he listened to the news. Floyd has a new job, but every time his new boss asks to talk to him in private, Floyd feels a little faint. What term is used to describe the event of Floyd's new boss asking for a private talk, in this example?

conditioned stimulus

One Saturday, Adhar was sitting at home when the telephone rang. A local company was making promotional calls and told Adhar he had just won a $500 gift certificate. He felt a rush of excitement at the thought of what he could do with $500. Now Adhar finds that whenever he hears a telephone ring, he feels a little surge of excitement. What is the conditioned response in this example?

the surge of excitement that Adhar feels whenever he hears a telephone ring

Nadja used to really enjoy potato salad, and at a family reunion she ate a large helping. Unfortunately, the potato salad had gone bad, and Nadja became quite ill after eating it. Now she finds that even the sight of potatoes in the grocery store can make her feel sick to her stomach. What is the sick feeling Nadja experiences when she sees potatoes in the grocery store, in this example?

conditioned response

Which of the following could be accounted for by classical conditioning?

learning fear of the dark

Quyen woke up one night with a spider dangling in front of her face. She screamed, and from that point on she could not stand to be near spiders. What caused Quyen's fear of spiders?

classical conditioning

Ming is afraid of all spiders because her brother once dropped a spider down her shirt when she was younger. Today, even the sight of a rubber spider is enough to send

classical conditioning

What is the irrational fear and anxiety that a person experiences in a phobia, from a classical conditioning perspective?

conditioned response

After a painful experience, Frederick cringes every time he hears a dentist's drill, even when he is sitting in the waiting room of his dentist's office. What is the pain of dental drilling in this example?

unconditioned stimulus

After a painful experience, Sebastien cringes every time he hears a dentist's drill, even when he is sitting in the waiting room of his dentist's office. What term applies to Sebastien's cringing in the waiting room, in this example?

conditioned response

Which of the following could be accounted for by classical conditioning?

learning to love the smell of Grandpa's aftershave

Advertisers pair their products with attractive people or enjoyable surroundings, in the hope that the pairings will cause their products to evoke good feelings. Which learning principles are advertisers using?

classical conditioning

Which of the following terms is used for the form of classical conditioning that is used by advertising campaigns to alter the preferences or attitudes of consumers?

evaluative conditioning

A woman reported feeling very happy whenever she smelled cigarette smoke and Beemans gum because of the association of these smells with her first love. What is her happiness, in this example?

conditioned response

A woman reports feeling happy whenever she smells hot dogs and campfires because of the association of these smells with her favourite family vacations. What is the combined smell of hot dogs and campfires, in this example?

conditioned stimulus

A woman reports feeling happy when she smells fresh hay and manure because of the association of these smells with wonderful visits to her grandparents' farm. How did the positive emotional response that this woman experiences develop?

classical conditioning

A major automaker has developed a series of television commercials that show its cars in the great outdoors, in peaceful settings, away from the hustle and bustle of big cities. The company hopes that seeing the cars in these settings will condition good feelings about its cars. Which learning principle is this particular auto maker attempting to use?

classical conditioning

Eduardo's mother always wore Chantille perfume, and he always smelled it when she hugged him. Today, whenever he catches a whiff of Chantille perfume, it makes him feel calm and relaxed. Which learning process best accounts for Eduardo's response to the scent of Chantille perfume?

classical conditioning

Researchers have found that animals show evidence of classical conditioning if they are injected with a drug that chemically causes immunosuppression, while they are simultaneously drinking an unusual-tasting liquid. What is the conditioned response in these studies?

immunosuppression

Which of the following processes can influence allergic reactions and the growth of drug tolerances, according to studies?

classical conditioning

As described in your text, Domjan and his colleagues studied the adaptive significance of sexual conditioning. On which of the following topics might research like this shed light?

how sexual fetishes develop in humans

Terrence uses opiate drugs daily. He normally takes his pills in the morning, right after he has a shower. If Terrance has developed tolerance to these pills, what is likely to happen after his shower if Terrance does NOT take the pills?

The shower will elicit conditioned compensatory responses, which will be experienced as withdrawal

Cherise has developed a tolerance for the effects of heroin. She normally uses heroin in her boyfriend's apartment, and always uses the same administration routine. What will happen if Cherise uses heroin in a different location, using a different routine?

She will be at risk of overdose

What is the initial stage of learning a response called?

acquisition

Which of the following is necessary for classical conditioning to occur, according to Pavlov?

having temporal contiguity of stimuli

On Tuesday morning, Chloe prepared her typical breakfast of cereal with milk, fruit, and black coffee. However, instead of having grapefruit with her breakfast as she normally does, she tried eating guava for the first time. Later she became extremely ill. If her illness causes her to develop a conditioned response to one of her breakfast items, which food will elicit the conditioned response?

guava, because it was a novel stimulus

The continued presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus will result in the gradual disappearance of the conditioned response. What is this phenomenon called?

extinction

After training one of his dogs to salivate in response to a tone, Pavlov continued to present the tone periodically without the food. What did the dog do?

It gradually stopped responding to the tone

What should you present in order to weaken or eliminate a conditioned response?

the conditioned stimulus alone several times

Carly used to be afraid of visits to her family doctor because she associated the sight of his waiting room with the pain of having a blood sample drawn. Recently, Carly's doctor retired and a new doctor took over his office. Carly's new doctor uses a technique that is virtually painless and the sight of the waiting room is no longer associated with pain. Consequently, Carly finds her fear of visits to her family doctor has disappeared. Which classical conditioning process does this illustrate?

extinction

Ken used to drool at the smell of peanut butter cookies as they baked, and he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into that first cookie. However, Ken's new roommate makes terrible peanut butter cookies, and the smell of them baking is no longer associated with a wonderful taste experience. Consequently, Ken finds that the smell of the cookies no longer makes him drool in anticipation. Which classical conditioning process does this illustrate?

extinction

What do we call the reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction and a period of rest?

spontaneous recovery

Mariah developed a fear of the water when she fell off a river raft last summer. This year she took swimming lessons and thought she had finally overcome her fear of water. She was eagerly anticipating an upcoming rafting trip; however, as soon as she stepped onto the raft she was instantly terrified again. What process does this illustrate?

spontaneous recovery

Kaleb developed a fear of snowstorms two winters ago when his car spun off the road and hit a tree during a blizzard. As the winter progressed, and he had no further accidents, Kaleb thought his fear of snowstorms had pretty well disappeared. To his surprise, this winter when the first heavy snow started to fall as he was driving, he found his heart was pounding and he was trembling. What does this illustrate?

spontaneous recovery

What is typical about the recovered response when a conditioned response shows spontaneous recovery?

It is weaker than the previously conditioned response

What does the phenomenon of spontaneous recovery suggest?

Even if a person is able to extinguish a conditioned response, there is an excellent chance that it will reappear later

Anthony classically conditioned his cat to purr whenever the phone rang. One day, the phone rang for nearly two hours straight when Anthony wasn't home, and the cat's conditioned purring response underwent extinction. Today, the response has spontaneously recovered, but what should Anthony expect if the conditioned purring response were to undergo extinction again?

It would take less time to extinguish than it took for the original extinction

Imagine that a conditioned response is extinguished in a different setting than the one in which it was originally acquired. What should you expect to see when the animal is returned to the environment where the acquisition originally took place?

response renewal

Cody developed a severe fear of flying when he was piloting a small plane through some severe turbulence. He has been seeing a therapist, and it appears that his fear response has been successfully extinguished. The therapist used a flight simulator to help Cody practise his piloting skills in a safe setting. However, the first time Cody stepped back into a real plane, his fear returned. What phenomenon does this illustrate

renewal effect

What do the renewal effect and spontaneous recovery both suggest about extinction?

Extinction suppresses, but does not erase, a learned association

Which of the following is an example of stimulus generalization?

An organism responds to new stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus

When Diana was three years old, she became terrified when the neighbour's budgie bird kept flying near her head. Today she is afraid of all birds, including robins, pigeons, and blue jays. What process does this illustrate?

stimulus generalization

When Luis was a child, he really liked the smell of the rose-scented perfume his mother always wore. He came to associate that scent with snuggles and hugs from his mom. As an adult, Luis likes any floral scent, including the smell of lilacs and wildflowers. What process does this illustrate?

stimulus generalization

When would you expect the greatest degree of stimulus generalization in classical conditioning

when stimuli are very similar to the original conditioned stimulus

You have conditioned a dog to salivate in response to a flashing green light. What would you expect to happen if you continue to pair the green light with food, but periodically present a white light that is NOT followed by food?

stimulus discrimination

If a pigeon is fearful in the presence of a blue light and not a yellow light, what has the pigeon learned?

stimulus discrimination

In classical conditioning, a subject can learn to respond to one conditioned stimulus but not to another similar stimulus. What is this phenomenon called?

stimulus discrimination

When Lindsay was nine years old, the neighbour's Chihuahua bit her on the ankle. Today Lindsay is still terrified of Chihuahuas, but she likes almost all other types of dogs. What does Lindsay's specific fear illustrate

stimulus discrimination

When Antonio was sick as a child, his mother would always make him vanilla pudding. To Antonio it seemed like the vanilla pudding made him feel better. Even now, he still gets a good feeling when he starts to prepare some vanilla pudding, but not when he starts to make any other type of pudding. What process does this illustrate?

stimulus discrimination

A dog is first conditioned to salivate to a tone. Then, a light is paired with the tone for a number of trials. Finally, the light is presented alone, and the dog salivates. What is this procedure called?

higher-order conditioning

Which of the following is most consistent with higher-order conditioning?

A conditioned stimulus functions like an unconditioned stimulus

How are new conditioned responses created in higher-order conditioning?

They are built on the foundation of previously established conditioned responses

You have conditioned a fear response to a 1000-Hz tone. Now the tone is paired with a green light. Later, the green light alone elicits fear. What is this process called?

higher-order conditioning

Six-year-old Kristen is afraid of balloons because a balloon once popped in her face while she was holding it. Last week she went to the circus and there was a clown holding a huge assortment of helium balloons. Now she is also afraid of clowns, even though none of the balloons the clown was holding popped. Kristen's fear of clowns illustrates which classical conditioning process?

higher-order conditioning

What change occurs as a result of operant conditioning?

Responses come to be controlled by their consequences

Via which learning process is learning to tie one's shoes most likely acquired?

operant conditioning

Dillon is four years old, and his parents want to teach him to say "please" and "thank you." Which method will be most useful for modifying Dillon's behaviour?

operant conditioning

April wants to teach her cat not to claw at the arms of her couch. Which of the following methods will be most successful?

operant conditioning

Thierry and Renée each want to train their dogs. Thierry wants his dog to feel relaxed when the doorbell rings. Renée wants her dog to bark only when she gives the command to do so. Which methods would be best for each of them?

classical conditioning for Thierry and operant conditioning for Renée

Hamish and Dougal have noticed some examples of conditioning in the border collies that they use on their farm. For example, the dogs have learned to herd sheep toward the barn if they hear a short blast on a whistle. The dogs also start drooling whenever they are allowed into the kitchen of the farmhouse, where they get really juicy scraps to eat. Which of the following describes their dogs' conditioning?

The herding behaviour is the result of operant conditioning and the drooling is the result of classical conditioning

What is the major distinction between classical conditioning and operant conditioning?

In classical, you learn to change a reflexive behaviour, while in operant you learn to change a voluntary behaviour

What is another name for operant conditioning?

instrumental learning

What happens to the association between stimulus and response, according to the law of effect?

Satisfying events strengthen the association

What happens to successful responses, according to Thorndike's view of learning?

They are "stamped in" by their favourable effects or consequences

Thorndike found that the cats in his puzzle boxes learned to escape from the box, and that the time required to escape decreased gradually over trials. Thorndike believed that this was evidence that cats were not necessarily thinking or understanding (even though they were learning). What pattern of results would provide evidence that cats were "thinking", according to Thorndike?

initial long durations followed by a sharp, permanent drop in duration once cats recognized the solution to the problem

When is a stimulus considered to be a reinforcer, according to Skinner?

when it increases the probability of the response that produced it

Cassie asked her father for a candy bar at the grocery store, and her father bought her the candy bar. If Cassie asks for more candy bars in the future, then what is the candy bar?

reinforcer

What is the term for the rules that determine whether responses lead to the presentation of a reinforcer?

reinforcement contingencies

What does the cumulative recorder do in a Skinner box?

It creates a graphic record of operant responding across time

In the cumulative record of responses from a Skinner box, what sort of line indicates a rapid, rather than slow, response rate?

steep slope

In a cumulative record of responses from a Skinner box, what does a steep slope in the line indicate?

fast responding is taking place

You are watching a pigeon pecking a disk in a small chamber. There is a cumulative recorder connected to the disk. While you are watching, the pigeon is pecking at a slow, steady rate. What can you predict about the line on the cumulative record based on this information?

It will have a shallow, upward slope

Nate is watching the cumulative recorder that is connected to a box where a rat is pressing a lever to receive food reinforcement. The slope of the line is becoming flatter and flatter over time. What can Nate conclude about the rat's response rate, based on this output?

It is decreasing over time

You are watching a cumulative recorder that is connected to a small disk in a chamber. The pigeon has been trained to peck the disk when a red light is turned on, and not to peck the disk when a green light is turned on. What should you observe when the green light is turned on, based on this information?

The slope of the line on the cumulative recorder will be shallower than when the red light is turned on

What is the process called when you selectively reinforce responses that are closer and closer approximations of some desired response?

shaping

Via which of the following processes is learning to ride a bicycle most likely acquired?

shaping

Noel's skill at hitting a baseball gradually improves as his attempts produce more frequent and longer-distance hits. Which of the following processes is this an example of?

shaping

Which technique is used to teach animals complex tricks, such as teaching pigeons to play ping-pong?

shaping

Nicolas has autism and he used to be mute. A therapist working with Nicolas initially gave him a piece of chocolate any time he made a sound with his lips. This slowly changed until Nicolas received a piece of chocolate only for saying complete words, and eventually only for saying complete sentences. Which process is illustrated in this example?

shaping

Jerome is training to be a vacuum cleaner sales person. Initially, he got paid for each customer he called on, even if the customer did not ask for a demonstration. Currently, he gets paid for only actually demonstrating the product. Eventually, he will get paid only for actually closing a sale. What process is illustrated in this example?

shaping

Summer is teaching herself to type using a computer software package. The first time she used the program, the sentences she was supposed to type scrolled very slowly across the computer screen and when she finished the computer played a clapping sound. However, now she has to type the material faster than her previous "best time" before the computer plays the clapping sound. Which of the following techniques is incorporated in this software package?

shaping

What is the result when reinforcement for a behaviour is removed?

a brief increase in the frequency of the behaviour, followed by the weakening of the behaviour

Kylee used to bring drawings home from her kindergarten class every day, and her parents would put the pictures on the refrigerator and tell Kylee how nice the pictures were. Lately, her parents haven't been putting her artwork on the refrigerator, and now Kylee has stopped bringing drawings home with her. Which process does this example illustrate?

extinction

Bart used to go to his health club every day after work because he almost always saw Abigail there. For two full weeks Abigail wasn't at the club when Bart went there for his workout, and now Bart has stopped going to his health club. Which process does this example illustrate?

extinction

Organisms often continue to make operant responses, even when those responses are no longer reinforced. What is this persistence called?

resistance to extinction