Question 1

Skinner would view warfare as an example of

Accepted Answer

A) an aggressive instinct. 
B) a maladaptive remnant of cultural evolution. 
C) a maladaptive negative reinforcer. 
D) a behavior independent of cultural evolution.

Question 2

Concerning emotions, Skinner believed all EXCEPT which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A) A person's emotions are not directly observable to others. 
B) The physical concomitants of emotions can be measured. 
C) A majority of human behaviors are the result of emotions. 
D) Emotions are subjectively real to the person ing them. 
E) Pleasant emotions tend to be reinforcing for an individual.

Question 3

For humans, playing slot machines best illustrates the influence of a _____ schedule of reinforcement.

Accepted Answer

A) continuous 
B) fixed-ratio 
C) variable-ratio 
D) fixed-interval

Question 4

Which of these would NOT be considered by Skinner to be a generalized reinforcer?

Accepted Answer

A) affection 
B) approval 
C) money 
D) attention 
E) food

Question 5

Skinner's laboratory research at Harvard consisted exclusively of experiments

Accepted Answer

A) with only non-human animals. 
B) with undergraduates he taught. 
C) with fellow graduate students. 
D) using psychotherapy patients. 
E) with mentally retarded adults.

Question 6

For Skinner, natural selection

Accepted Answer

A) is irrelevant to operant conditioning. 
B) explains some animal behavior but no human behavior. 
C) accounts for most human behavior. 
D) is probably responsible for some human behavior.

Question 7

Regarding human thoughts and cognitions, Skinner believed that

Accepted Answer

A) they can be understood by applying the principles of operant and respondent conditioning. 
B) they are covert behaviors that take place within the skin. 
C) they cannot be changed by the contingencies of reinforcement. 
D) they do not exist.

Question 8

Behavior reinforced on an intermittent schedule is

Accepted Answer

A) learned very rapidly. 
B) extinguished very rapidly. 
C) resistant to extinction. 
D) extinguished rapidly through punishment.

Question 9

Which of these schedules would cost the experimenter the most reinforcers for the least number of responses?

Accepted Answer

A) variable-interval 
B) fixed-interval 
C) variable-ratio 
D) fixed-ratio 
E) continuous

Question 10

According to Skinner, advertising is a method of social control through

Accepted Answer

A) operant conditioning. 
B) describing contingencies. 
C) manipulating deprivation. 
D) manipulating satiation.

Question 11

Skinner accepted the concept of unconscious

Accepted Answer

A) mental processes. 
B) cognition. 
C) conflicts. 
D) behavior. 
E) motivation.

Question 12

Payment by salary or wage most closely approximates which schedule of reinforcement?

Accepted Answer

A) continuous 
B) fixed-ratio 
C) variable-ratio 
D) fixed-interval

Question 13

People who make rewards or punishments contingent on the behavior of another are using which of Skinner's methods of social control?

Accepted Answer

A) operant conditioning 
B) respondent conditioning 
C) extinction 
D) describing contingencies

Question 14

Heather has a painful headache.She takes some aspirin and the pain stops.In the future when she has a headache, she will also take aspirin.Skinner would say that the taking of aspirin to reduce headache pain is

Accepted Answer

A) positively reinforced. 
B) negatively reinforced. 
C) extinguished. 
D) successively approximated. 
E) spontaneously recovered.

Question 15

Discuss the contributions of
B.Watson to Skinner's learning theory.
Thorndike's original law of effect held that responses to stimuli followed by a satisfier tend to be "stamped in," or learned.A second part of the law stated that responses to stimuli followed by an annoyer tend to be "stamped our," or eliminated.
Thorndike later changed the law of effect to include only the first part, namely that reinforcement or reward increases the chances of a behavior being learned.This concept is at the core of Skinner's operant conditioning.
Watson had an even greater effect on Skinner, especially his notions of science and psychology.Watson's insistence that human behavior must be studied scientifically impressed Skinner even before he began graduate school.
Watson criticized traditional psychology for studying consciousness, introspection, instincts, sensations, perception, motivation, and mental states.He also insisted that the goal of psychology must be prediction and control of behavior.Throughout his career, Skinner adhered closely to Watson's position.
E.L.Thorndike and J.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss the contributions of
B.Watson to Skinner's learning...

Question 16

During World War II, Skinner

Accepted Answer

A) served in the Naval Air Force as a fighter pilot. 
B) trained pigeons to pilot missiles into enemy targets. 
C) worked in a VA hospital as a psychotherapist. 
D) made an unsuccessful attempt to become a U.S.senator.

Question 17

Negative reinforcement and punishment are similar in that they both

Accepted Answer

A) strengthen a response. 
B) weaken a response. 
C) involve aversive stimuli. 
D) have unpredictable effects on behavior.

Question 18

Skinner saw the psychotherapist as a

Accepted Answer

A) controlling agent. 
B) punitive authority figure. 
C) major source of knowledge about human behavior. 
D) necessary component of scientific psychology. 
E) medical specialist.

Question 19

What was Skinner's position on such internal mental states as thinking and feeling?

Accepted Answer

A) They do not exist because they cannot be observed from outside. 
B) They exist, but scientists should not attribute behavior to them. 
C) They are essential to an understanding of human behavior. 
D) None of these is correct.

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a principal characteristic of science, according to Skinner?

Accepted Answer

A) Science explains behavior. 
B) Science values empirical observation. 
C) Science is cumulative. 
D) Science is a search for order and lawful relationships.

Exam 15: Buss: Evolutionary Theory of Personality