U3 AOS2 Psych: Operant Conditioning

The law of effect is best illustrated by

• cleaning your room because you were praised when you did it last time.
• a boy learning to change a tyre by watching his father.
• blinking when a puff of air is blown into your eye.
• being scared of thunder.

The word "Operant" in Skinner's operant conditioning refers to

• the environment in which an organism is conditioned.

• the process by which an organism learns to discriminate between different types of reinforcers.

• an organismês response or behaviour that acts on the environment and leads to some sort of outcome.

• the positive or negative outcome of an organismês behaviour.

In Skinner's original experiments, the behaviour of an animal when first placed in an operant chamber was

• instrumental.

• random.

• reinforced.

• punished.

In operant conditioning an important connection forms between the

• unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus.
• stimulus and whatever occurs before it.
• unconditioned stimulus and the unconditioned response.
• behaviour and the reinforcement that follows it.

Many of Skinner's original experiments used

• an operant conditioning chamber.

• a Pavlovian conditioning laboratory.

• children.

• cats in puzzle boxes.

The discriminative stimulus is also referred to as the

• behavioural outcome.
• reinforcer or punisher.
• antecedent condition.
• reward.

Jimmy has a new dog called Deefer. Each week, Jimmy and his dog visit Jimmy's grandmother who loves dogs. When they arrive, Jimmy's grandmother tells Deefer to lie down and roll over, then she gives him a doggy treat.

This has happened for a number of weeks and on each visit the same thing happens.

After some time, Jimmy is surprised when on one visit they open the front door of his grandmother's house and Deefer immediately lies down and rolls over without being told!

Jimmy's grandmother thinks this is wonderful and gives Deefer another treat.

At Jimmy's grandmother's house, when first being trained, Deefer is being given

• partial reinforcement.

• negative reinforcement.

• positive reinforcement.

• response reinforcement.

Jimmy has a new dog called Deefer. Each week, Jimmy and his dog visit Jimmyês grandmother who loves dogs. When they arrive, Jimmyês grandmother tells Deefer to lie down and roll over, then she gives him a doggy treat. This has happened for a number of weeks and on each visit the same thing happens. After some time, Jimmy is surprised when on one visit they open the front door of his grandmotherês house and Deefer immediately lies down and rolls over without being told! Jimmyês grandmother thinks this is wonderful and gives Deefer another treat. When Deefer rolls over without being told, immediately on entering the grandmotherês front door, the entry to the house has been a

• consequence.
• positive reinforcer.
• behavioural response.
• discriminative stimulus.

Jimmy has a new dog called Deefer. Each week, Jimmy and his dog visit Jimmy's grandmother who loves dogs. When they arrive, Jimmy's grandmother tells Deefer to lie down and roll over, then she gives him a doggy treat.

This has happened for a number of weeks and on each visit the same thing happens.

After some time, Jimmy is surprised when on one visit they open the front door of his grandmother's house and Deefer immediately lies down and rolls over without being told!

Deefee's action when visiting the aunt is an example of

• response generalisation.

• stimulus generalisation.

• response discrimination.

• stimulus discrimination.

A dolphin learns to perform a somersault in the air when a trainer blows a high-pitched whistle. The dolphin is given a piece of fish after it does the somersault. Based on the three-phase model of operant conditioning, the discriminative stimulus is the

• somersault.
• piece of fish.
• sight of the trainer.
• sound of the whistle.