Unit 4 + learning

The first time four-year-old Savannah attempted to make her bed, her father praised her for covering the pillow with a blanket. After a few times, her father began praising Savannah for covering the pillow and tucking in the corners of the sheet. Finally, Savannah’s father praised her when she covered the pillow, tucked in the corners of the sheet, and smoothed the blanket. The process described in this scenario is known as

• negative reinforcement

• spontaneous recovery

• shaping

• latent learning

Barney is a somewhat distractible second-grade student who finds schoolwork a bit boring. After a couple of minutes of working silently, Barney often starts to misbehave until his teacher, Ms. Skinner, calls his name and scolds him. However, he enjoys this attention from her and continues to misbehave. With respect to Barney’s misbehavior, Ms. Skinner’s attention serves as

• punishment

• positive reinforcement

• negative reinforcement

• differential reinforcement

A cancer patient becomes nauseated following chemotherapy treatments. After a few treatments, the patient begins having a sick feeling whenever entering the treatment room. The treatment room has become

• a primary reinforcer

• a conditioned reinforcer

• a neutral stimulus

• a conditioned stimulus

Elizabeth picks up the clothes from her bedroom floor and puts them away to avoid her mother’s repeated nagging. Elizabeth’s behavior is being influenced by

• classical conditioning

• positive reinforcement

• negative reinforcement

• extinction

A person eats a hamburger at a restaurant and develops a very bad stomachache after finishing eating. As a result of the sudden illness, the person cannot eat hamburgers anymore. Just thinking about them makes the person feel sick to the stomach. In this scenario, the thought of a hamburger is

• an unconditioned stimulus

• an unconditioned response

• a conditioned stimulus

• a conditioned response

Kelly, a first-year student at a local university, is surprised at how easily she can locate the building and classroom for each of her classes on the first day of school. Kelly attributes her success to the campus tour she took the previous spring. Which of the following concepts best supports Kelly’s belief?

• Modeling

• Spontaneous recovery

• Classical conditioning

• Latent learning

Which of the following kinds of learning is involved when a person displays a new behavior after watching someone else perform it?

• Generalization

• Latent learning

• Insight learning

• Observational learning

Maria was never afraid of spiders until a spider bit her when she was eight. Today, even the sight of a plastic spider upsets her. Which of the following learning processes best explains Maria’s fear of spiders?

• Classical conditioning

• Operant conditioning

• Discrimination

• Observational learning

Madeline wants her son to be well-behaved when they go to church. For every five minutes he sits still, she gives him a piece of candy. What type of learning is Madeline employing?

• Operant conditioning

• Classical conditioning

• Observational learning

• One-trial learning

The principles of operant conditioning are best illustrated by

• exposing a client to anxiety-provoking stimuli

• replacing a response to a stimulus with an alternative response

• deep relaxation techniques

• a token economy to reinforce adaptive behaviors