Operant Conditioning

John's parents give him $5 for allowance every time he finishes doing a load of laundry. This is an example of which kind of reinforcement schedule?

• Fixed ratio

• Fixed interval

• Continuous

• Variable ratio

B.F. Skinner studied operant conditioning through the use of an operant conditioning box, which is also known as what?

• Conditioning cage

• Skinner house

• Skinner box

• Pavlov's box

Which one of these teaching strategies was not a method employed by Skinner for his box experiment?

• Negative reinforcement

• Positive reinforcement

• Placebo

• Positive punishment

Whenever the teacher's students behave well, she reduces their amount of homework for that night. This is an example of what aspect of operant conditioning?

• Punishment

• Negative reinforcement

• Variable interval

• Fixed interval

A rabbit is in a cage with a red button. Regardless of how the rabbit interacts with the button, a trap door releases a food pellet every twenty minutes. This reinforcement schedule would be classified as __________.

• fixed-ratio

• continuous

• variable-ratio

• fixed-interval

Fixed Interval schedules are based on:

• Time passing between responses

• Time passing between a response and a consequence

• The frequency of responses

• The number of consequences that are given for one response

Psychologists call behavior that receives feedback in the form of a reinforcing or punishing consequence ____________ behavior.

• Respondent

• Classical

• Operant

• Involuntary

A crucial component of operant conditioning is the kind of consequence that follows a behavior.

• True

• False

A response will be more likely to resist extinction if, previous to the extinction procedure, it was reinforced on a consistent & frequent schedule.

• True

• False

A student volunteers to answer a tough question in class and the teacher comments favorably on the quality of the student’s answer.

• Punishment

• Negative reinforcement

• Extinction

• Positive reinforcement