Psych Practice

Which of the following statements best describes the concept of classical conditioning?

• Organisms learn from the consequences of their behavior.

• Organisms learn by observing the behavior of others.

• Organisms learn from their voluntary responses which develop over time.

• Organisms learn from the connections between stimuli.

Thorndike's law of effect states that ________.

• an organism can learn to associate a neutral stimulus with a conditioned stimulus

• the consequences of a behavior will affect the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated

• children learn aggression by being exposed to aggressive adult role models

• some behaviors are inherently easier to learn than others

Can negative reinforcers be punishers?

• No, because punishments are always positive.

• Yes, because punishments are always negative.

• Yes, because negative reinforcers decrease desired behaviors.

• No, because negative reinforcers increase desired behaviors.

In a ________, the number of responses needed for reinforcement differs from time to time and it produces a very steady rate of response, because the individual is not quite sure how many responses are necessary to obtain reinforcement.

• variable-ratio schedule

• fixed-interval schedule

• variable-interval schedule

• fixed-ratio schedule

What is positive reinforcement?

• Strengthening behavior by presenting a desire stimulus after the behavior

• Learning in which voluntary behavior is strengthened or weakened by antecedents or consequences

• Strengthening behavior by removing an unpleasant stimulus when the behavior occurs

• The association of automatic responses with new stimuli

If you move your watchband up your wrist an inch or so, you will feel it for only a few moments. This best illustrates: 

• parallel processing
• accommodation
• sensory adaptation
• Weber's law

The eye’s “blind spot” is related to:

• light rays focusing too far in front of the retina.
• light rays focusing too far behind the retina.
• a cluster of cells around the fovea which contains cones, but no rods.
• an area without receptor cells where the optic nerve leaves the eye.

The way in which you quickly group the individual letters in this test item into separate words best illustrates the principle of: 

• closure.
• proximity.
• continuity.
• convergence.

The tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS.

• spontaneous recovery

• acquisition

• generalization

• discrimination

A sudden often novel (new) realization of the solution to a problem

• spontaneous recovery

• extinction

• insight learning

• modeling