Learning Unit Quiz

Miguel trained his dog, Luna, to sit on command by rewarding her with treats. However, when he stopped giving treats, Luna became less responsive and eventually stopped sitting altogether. Which psychological concept explains this change in behavior?

• Spontaneous Recovery
• Generalization
• Extinction
• Shaping

After being bitten by a large black dog, Emily first fears similar dogs but eventually becomes anxious around all dogs. Which concept explains this reaction?

• Stimulus Generalization
• Discrimination
• Operant Conditioning
• Extinction

After getting sick after eating clam chowder, Marcus now feels nauseated just thinking about it, but he still enjoys other seafood. Which concept explains this reaction?

• Classical Conditioning
• Observational Learning
• Extinction
• Taste Aversion

In a study on infant feeding, a researcher observes that when sugar water is placed on newborns' tongues, they automatically begin sucking and salivating without prior learning. This sweet taste naturally triggers these reflexive responses in all healthy newborns. In this example, what does the sugar water represent?

• Conditioned stimulus (CS)
• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
• Unconditioned response (UR)
• Neutral stimulus (NS)

Devin trains his dog, Snickers, to sit on command. After a two-week break, Snickers stops responding but later sits again without retraining. Which concept explains this behavior?

• Extinction
• Stimulus Generalization
• Spontaneous Recovery
• Operant Conditioning

A mother rewards her daughter with stamps for cleaning up toys, allowing her to pick a bedtime story after earning five. As a result, the daughter cleans up more often. Which concept explains this strategy?

• Positive reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement
• Positive punishment
• Shaping

A student does extra credit to avoid being called on in class, reducing her anxiety. She continues this pattern throughout the semester. Which concept explains this behavior?

• Positive reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement
• Negative punishment
• Avoidance learning

A factory worker receives a $20 bonus for every 50 units she assembles, regardless of the time it takes. She works quickly with few breaks until she reaches each 50-unit goal, then briefly slows down before starting the next set. Her supervisor notices that this creates a "stair-step" pattern of productivity, with steady work followed by short pauses after each reward. This pattern of reinforcement, based on a fixed number of responses before receiving a reward, illustrates which type of reinforcement schedule?

• Fixed interval schedule
• Variable ratio schedule
• Fixed ratio schedule
• Variable interval schedule

A speech therapist works with a nonverbal child with autism, gradually reinforcing sounds that get closer to clear words. She first rewards any vocalization, then only approximations, and finally, the correct word. For example, she initially praises "ba," then "bah-tel," and eventually only "bottle." This method of reinforcing step-by-step progress toward a desired behavior demonstrates which concept?

• Shaping
• Chaining
• Discrimination learning
• Generalization

A high school basketball coach notices that one of her star players frequently arrives late to practice. After multiple warnings, she enforces a new rule: every time the player is late, she loses 10 minutes of playing time in the next game. As the player sees her court time decreasing, she starts arriving on time to avoid further penalties. This decrease in tardiness due to the removal of a desired privilege (playing time) demonstrates which behavioral psychology concept?

• Positive reinforcement
• Positive punishment
• Negative reinforcement
• Negative punishment