Midterm Examination on Learning Theories

John exhibits fear response to freely roaming dogs but does not show fear when a dog is confined to a pen. Which conditioning process is illustrated?

• Acquisition

• Discrimination

• Extinction

• Stimulus Generalization

What is the primary application of the law of effect in behavior modification and training?

• Reinforcing desired behaviors with rewards to increase their likelihood

• Punishing undesired behaviors to decrease their likelihood

• Providing repetitive practice to enhance skill acquisition

• Assessing an individual's readiness to learn a new skill

According to the law of effect, what is more likely to occur when a behavior is followed by a positive consequence?

• The behavior will be extinguished.

• The behavior will remain unchanged.

• The behavior is more likely to be repeated.

• The behavior is less likely to be repeated.

Which of Thorndike's laws emphasizes the importance of repetition and practice in achieving mastery?

• The law of exercise

• The law of readiness

• The law of effect

• The law of reinforcement

You are trying to train your dog not to jump on guests when they walk into your home. You buy a zap collar at the store, which has a remote that will shock the dog when you push a button. Every time your dog jumps on a person, you push the button, and the dog gets an electric shock. Which scientist's experiments are you most closely replicating?

• Pavlov

• Watson

• Skinner

• Thorndike

Your school has a goal of students being more prepared for class. For the first time all year, all of your students come to class prepared. How would you use positive reinforcement to try to increase the chance of this behavior happening again?

• Do nothing. Students should be prepared anyway

• Take away a homework assignment for that night.

• Drop each student's lowest quiz grade for that marking period.

• Give the entire class a free ice cream pass to use in the cafeteria.

He is a psychologist known for his work on operant conditioning, which involves using rewards and punishments to shape behavior.

• Ivan Pavlov

• John Watson

• B.F. Skinner

• Edward Lee Thorndike

He conducted a controversial experiment involving a baby and a rat known as the 'Little Albert' experiment, which aimed to demonstrate the principles of classical conditioning by conditioning a fear response in a young child.

• Ivan Pavlov

• John Watson

• B.F. Skinner

• Edward Lee Thorndike

Which of the following is NOT a principle of Thorndike's laws of learning?

• The law of exercise

• The law of effect

• The law of reinforcement

• The law of readiness

The gradual disappearance of a conditioned response is called

• Discrimination

• Extinction

• Spontaneous Recovery

• Stimulus Generalization