Exam 7: Learning and Adaptation: the Role of Experience

A researcher in a classical conditioning experiment is attempting to condition a startle response to a green light. To do this, she illuminates the light, then it goes off and then she plays a very loud noise. This experiment is utilizing what type of sequence and timing of the CS-UCS pairing?

How do secondary reinforcers become "reinforcers"?

Clarence is a cat that is always fed in the same place, at the same time, every day. His food is taken out of the same cupboard before each meal, which has a particular sound when it opens that is loud enough to be noticeable. Something that makes Clarence sick somehow gets mixed in with his food bowl and he now refuses to eat any of that same brand of kibble. Even though it wasn't the kibble that made him sick, why is he acting as if it was?

Sam lives in a very violent area of town. People are often getting hurt or killed. But Sam is more likely to develop a fear of snakes than a fear of guns. Why?

Many radio stations give away products, money, etc. on their morning shows. Typically, a sound or song will play when it is time to phone in. In terms of operant conditioning, the sound or song would be considered a(n)

All of the following were mentioned as limitations of punishment EXCEPT

In order to cure himself of smoking, a man regularly places his package of cigarettes next to a particularly disturbing picture of two lungs that are black from a lifetime of smoking. After a week of this, the man can't pick up his cigarettes without thinking of this intense image, and as a result he smokes less. In this example, since the picture naturally inspires negative feelings for the man, the picture would be considered a(n)

A key principle in many therapies that treat phobias and fears is that the phobia or fear is learned and can therefore be

Alex often visits the sandwich shop next to his office building. Each time he buys a sandwich, his "frequent customer" card is stamped. When he has 20 stamps, he gets a free sandwich. This is an example of

Antecedents play a significant role in operant conditioning because they

A reflexive or innate response that is elicited by a stimulus without prior learning is a(n) ___________________.

Shaping is best defined as the process in which

It has been a long time since Karina stopped bullying other children at school. Her parents simply explained to Karina that every time she bullies a child, she must pay a price for the bullying incident. Karina loves music and has an extensive CD collection; therefore, the cost of a bullying incident is three CDs from her collection. It did not take Karina long to determine that it was too high of a price to pay for her behaviour, so the bullying stopped. This response cost method of modifying behaviour is a

A dog has completely acquired a classically conditioned salivation response. When a bell is rung, the dog salivates. Next the dog is put into extinction and returned to his home cage for two weeks. The next time he enters the experimental region, a bell rings and the dog salivates. What has happened?

A trained dolphin will only do a particular trick when the trainer gives a specific hand signal. When the trainer gives different hand signals, the dolphin does other tricks, thus illustrating that the dolphin's behaviour is under stimulus control. The dolphin's behaviour also best illustrates which of the following?

To assist Janice to stop smoking, she has made a contract with her closest friends. If anyone catches Janice smoking, she must pay that person $5.00 on the spot. This is an example of _____________.

Higher-order conditioning occurs when

Parents are interested in getting their son to play piano. In order to do this, they decide to reinforce him by paying him $1.00 for every hour that he practices. Shortly after this, the son decides that he also wants to learn how to play guitar and, since his parents are still paying him, he continues practicing both instruments. After a couple of months, the parents decide that the important thing is that their son is involved in music and so they quit paying him to practice the piano, whereupon the son gradually quits playing the piano and continues playing the guitar. The weakening and disappearance of the son's piano-playing behaviour would best be considered as an example of

In operant conditioning, learning occurs because a behaviour is influenced by the

When people experience a traumatic event, they can sometimes develop classically conditioned associations with otherwise unrelated stimuli that were present in the environment at the time of the trauma. Imagine this happens to Fredrick with a song playing on the radio during a car accident. What would be likely to happen if Fredrick continues to hear that same song many times after the car accident, without anything else bad happening at the same time (i.e. no more traumatic events coinciding with the song playing)?