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36 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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When conducting a study to investigate the phenomenon known as “blocking,” you will:
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present the CS prior to the US; then, once the CR is established, present the original CS simultaneously with a second CS prior to the US.
Blocking occurs when two different conditioned stimuli are paired with the unconditioned stimulus. This is the procedure that is used to investigate blocking. Apparently, when this procedure is used, the second CS never becomes associated with the US and does not elicit a CR. One explanation for blocking is that it occurs because the second CS does not provide information beyond what is already provided by the original CS. |
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Stress inoculation is best viewed as a combination of which of the following techniques?
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cognitive restructuring and graded rehearsal.
Stress inoculation is a cognitive-behavioral strategy that involves teaching clients the cognitive and behavioral skills they need to cope with future stressful situations. During the course of stress inoculation, the client learns to distinguish between ineffective and effective thoughts, actions, etc. and is taught alternative cognitive and behavioral skills that lead to effective coping in stressful situations. Once these skills have been learned, the client begins to apply them to real-life situations, usually beginning with the least stress-producing situations and then gradually working up to the most stress-producing situations. |
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Tommy Tyrant, a bright four-year-old, has learned that if he starts crying as soon as his mother begins to yell at him for misbehaving, his mother will stop yelling and will play with him instead, which is what Tommy wanted in the first place. In this situation, the mother's yelling is acting as:
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a discriminative stimulus.
In the situation described in this question, the mother's yelling is indicating to Tommy that crying will result in reinforcement. A discriminative stimulus is a cue (antecedent) that signals that a particular response will be followed by a reinforcer. |
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Which of the following types of biofeedback is likely to be most effective for reducing migraine headaches?
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blood volume pulse.
Several recent studies indicate that blood volume pulse biofeedback is as effective as or more effective than skin temperature biofeedback for treating migraine headaches. Blood volume pulse is measured using a photoplethysmograph (PPG) that monitors change in blood flow in the blood vessels beneath the skin. EMG biofeedback is useful for muscle tension headaches but has not been found to be more effective than blood volume pulse biofeedback for treating migraine headaches. EEG biofeedback provides information on brain activity and is not used as a treatment for migraine headaches. |
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Betsy B., age 9, is given a quarter by her parents each time she practices her violin and another quarter each time she completes her homework. If Betsy’s parents stop paying her for completing her homework, they are most likely to find that Betsy:
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spends less time doing homework but more time practicing the violin.
Betsy has received reinforcement for two different behaviors, but the reinforcement for one behavior will be terminated. a. Incorrect See explanation for response b. This question is asking about “positive behavioral contrast,” which occurs when reinforcement for one behavior is withdrawn while reinforcement for another behavior is continued. In this situation, the behavior that is no longer reinforced will decrease, while the behavior that continues to be reinforced will increase. |
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A mother yells at her 4-year old son every time he runs while he is in the house. She quickly notices that her son's running is increasing in frequency despite her reprimands. Apparently, the boy's increased running is the result of:
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positive reinforcement.
In the situation described in this question, the increase in the boy’s behavior is apparently due to the stimulus (the mother’s yelling) that is applied after he engages in the behavior. Positive reinforcement is occurring when a behavior increases because it is followed by the application of a stimulus. Note that this example illustrates the fact that a positive reinforcer doesn't have to be considered positive or pleasant by everyone. |
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Research on the serial position effect provides support for the distinction between:
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short- and long-term memory.
The serial position effect refers to the tendency to recall items in the beginning and end of a list better than items in the middle of the list, especially when recall occurs immediately after rehearsing the list. One explanation for the serial position effect is that items in the beginning of the list have been stored in long-term memory, while those in the end of the list are still present in short-term memory. |
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When using higher-order conditioning to establish a conditioned response:
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a CS serves as a US.
Higher-order conditioning is a type of classical conditioning. In higher-order conditioning, a conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with a neutral stimulus so that the neutral stimulus also elicits the conditioned response. In this situation, the CS is acting as a US (unconditioned stimulus) when it is paired with the neutral stimulus. |
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When using the Premack Principle to modify a behavior, the reinforcer is:
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a behavior that occurs frequently.
The Premack Principle is a type of positive reinforcement. When using the Premack Principle, a high-frequency behavior is used as the reinforcer for a low-frequency behavior. The Premack Principle is also known as “Grandma's Rule” – e.g., “you can go out and play once you've cleaned your room.” |
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Rehm's self-control therapy begins with self-monitoring, which involves maintaining a daily record of:
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positive activities.
One of the assumptions underlying Rehm's approach is that depressed individuals pay more attention to negative events than to positive ones. To alter a depressed patient's focus, therapy begins with a task that helps the patient shift his/her attention to positive events. |
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Secondary reinforcers:
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acquire their reinforcing value through conditioning.
This answer describes secondary reinforcers, which are also known as conditioned reinforcers because they acquire their reinforcing value through their association with primary reinforcers (i.e., as the result of being “paired with” primary reinforcers). Money is a secondary reinforcer that has value only because it enables us to purchase primary reinforcers, which have inherent reinforcing properties. |
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Although he was unable to carry out his plans, John Watson outlined several methods for removing Little Albert's classically-conditioned fear reaction to white rats. One plan involved repeatedly confronting Albert with a white rat without the loud noise in order to produce extinction of his fear response. This technique now underlies the behavioral treatment known as:
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flooding
The intervention described in this question involves exposing Little Albert to the feared object. Flooding (which is also known as in vivo exposure with response prevention) involves the extinction of a conditioned response through prolonged exposure to the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus. |
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In his studies on memory and forgetting, Ebbinghaus:
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used himself as a research subject
Ebbinghaus was among the first to conduct empirical studies on human memory. Ebbinghaus was the participant in his own research, which involved memorizing lists of nonsense syllables and subsequently recalling the words to evaluate retention. His research led to the identification of learning and forgetting curves. |
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When using classical extinction to eliminate a learned (conditioned) response:
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the CS is presented without the US.
Knowing that classical conditioning involves pairing a CS with a US so that the CS produces a response (CR) that is similar to the UR would have helped you identify the correct answer to this question. In classical conditioning, a CS (conditioned stimulus) elicits a CR (conditioned response) as a result of its pairing with a US (unconditioned stimulus). To extinguish the CR, the CS is repeatedly presented without the US. |
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Which of the following is an example of negative reinforcement?
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A graduate student smokes cigarettes in order to alleviate anxiety he feels about his ability to receive good grades in his classes.
Negative reinforcement occurs when the removal of a stimulus following a behavior increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated. In this situation the student’s smoking continues because smoking removes (alleviates) anxiety. |
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From the perspective of learning theory, phobic anxiety is:
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elicited by unconditioned (aversive) stimuli or stimuli that have been associated with them.
Knowing that learning theorists consider anxiety to be the result of classical conditioning would have helped you identify the correct response to this question. The classical conditioning explanation for anxiety is that it is produced by exposure to an unconditioned stimulus that naturally elicits anxiety or, perhaps more often, by exposure to a conditioned stimulus that has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus that naturally elicits anxiety. |
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The assumption underlying the use of implosive therapy for treating a phobia is that:
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extinction of a conditioned response occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the US.
Implosive therapy uses classical extinction to eliminate an undesirable anxiety response. Implosive therapy involves having the client repeatedly imagine a feared stimulus (CS) in the absence of the stimulus (US) that initially evoked the fear in order to eliminate the conditioned fear response. |
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Research on EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) suggests that its effectiveness for alleviating the symptoms of PTSD is attributable to which of the following?
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imaginal exposure
EMDR was originally developed as a treatment for PTSD and combines rapid lateral eye movements (which purportedly trigger adaptive neurophysiological information-processing mechanisms) with exposure and other techniques. Studies that used a dismantling strategy or compared EMDR to exposure-based treatments have generally confirmed that the essential component of EMDR is exposure to the feared stimulus in imagination rather than to lateral eye movements. |
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Tolman
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Tolman believed that learning could occur without being manifested in performance – i.e., that learning could be latent.
Tolman’s research with rats in mazes indicated that the rats had learned the maze (i.e., had formed “cognitive maps”) without exhibiting that learning until they were reinforced for doing so. He referred to this as latent learning. |
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You are hired by an organization to develop an incentive program for salespeople. The personnel manager suggests that employees be given a bonus every time their monthly sales exceed their previous month's sales by at least 10%. However, you decide to give each salesperson a bonus after every sixth sale which means that most salespeople will receive a bonus every six to eight weeks. Your incentive program represents which schedule of reinforcement?
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fixed ratio
An important thing to notice when reading this question is that it is asking about the schedule you are recommending. In this situation, the delivery of reinforcement depends on the number of responses, with reinforcement being given for every sixth response. This represents a fixed ratio schedule. (Don't be misled by the statement “every six to eight weeks.” It is the number of responses, not the time interval that determines when salespeople will receive a bonus.) |
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When using covert sensitization to treat a sexual fetish, the fetish object acts as a(n):
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CS
The goal of covert sensitization is to eliminate a response by replacing it with an incompatible response. When using covert sensitization, the target stimulus (in this case the fetish object) is paired in imagination with an aversive stimulus. Eventually, the target stimulus elicits the same unpleasant response as the aversive stimulus and, as a consequence, will be avoided. In this situation, the CS is the target stimulus, while the US is the aversive stimulus. |
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Rehm's (1977) self-control model of depression focuses on which the following?
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processes related to self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement
According to Rehm, deficits in these three aspects of self-control increase a person’s vulnerability to depression. |
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shaping
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Shaping is based on operant conditioning and involves reinforcing successive approximations to the target (desired) behavior.
When using shaping to establish a new behavior, responses that come closer and closer to the desired behavior are successively reinforced. |
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As an initial intervention with a client who has received a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, a practitioner of Beck’s cognitive-behavioral therapy is most likely to do which of the following?
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have the client maintain a record of his/her automatic thoughts during the following week
Beck's cognitive-behavioral approach attributes depression to irrational thoughts about oneself, the future, and the world. For practitioners of Beck’s cognitive-behavioral therapy, depression is the result of dysfunctional thoughts. Consequently, an initial focus of treatment is on identifying those thoughts – especially automatic thoughts, which are habitual, unconscious self-statements that have a strong emotional component. |
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types of memory
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Prospective memory refers to the ability to “remember to remember” – i.e., to remember to do something in the future, e.g. your ability to remember to call your friend next week in order to wish her a “happy birthday”?
Meta-memory refers to awareness and understanding of one’s own memory processes. It includes the ability to know what memory strategies to use for specific tasks. Working memory is the aspect of short-term memory that is used to perform certain mental tasks (e.g., to solve a simple arithmetic problem “in your head”) |
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To make sure that the housekeeper you hired does a good job, you decide to pay him for each chore he does well rather than giving him an hourly or weekly salary. You have apparently been influenced by which of the following individuals?
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Skinner
Skinner believed that behavior is determined by the consequences that follow it and that, when a behavior is reinforced, it increases. According to the principles of Skinner's operant conditioning, clearly linking reinforcement to performance of the behavior (e.g., by providing reinforcement immediately after the behavior) is one way to maximize the effectiveness of reinforcement. Pavlov is associated with classical conditioning, which involves pairing a conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the conditioned stimulus alone produces a response similar to the response produced by the unconditioned stimulus. This type of conditioning is not relevant to this situation. Wolpe is probably most associated with systematic desensitization, which is based on the principles of classical conditioning. Tolman is best known for his research on rats in mazes, which led to his idea of cognitive maps and cognitive theory of learning. |
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Escape and aviodance conditioning
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Escape conditioning occurs when a person's behavior is maintained because it allows the person to escape an undesirable stimulus. Escape conditioning is a type of negative reinforcement.
In avoidance conditioning, a cue signals that the undesirable stimulus is about to begin. In this situation, the individual can avoid the stimulus completely by performing the appropriate behavior as soon as he/she perceives the cue. |
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A behavior therapist working with a child who bites her nails sets a timer so that it rings every 5 minutes. The child is then given a reward for every 5-minute period that she doesn't bite her nails but engages in alternative activities instead. The therapist is using which of the following techniques?
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differential reinforcement
The child is being reinforced for every 5-minute period during which she engages in behaviors other than nailbiting. Differential reinforcement is what it sounds like – i.e., it involves reinforcing behaviors other than (different from) the target behavior. |
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Yerkes-Dodson Law
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learning and performance are curvilinearly related to arousal
Moderate levels of arousal are associated with the highest levels of learning and performance. This is particularly true when moderate levels of arousal are combined with moderate task difficulty. |
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A behavioral psychologist warns that "a single exception can reinstate the target response and may even maintain it for an extended period of time." Apparently, the psychologist is referring to the use of which of the following operant techniques to eliminate an undesirable response?
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The wording of this question implies that the correct answer must be a technique that is used to eliminate a response.
Intermittent reinforcement produces behaviors that are very resistant to extinction. Therefore, when using extinction to eliminate a behavior, all reinforcement for that behavior must be consistently withheld. If the behavior is reinforced even once, the behavior may be reinstated and the extinction process will have to begin again. |
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A number of relapse prevention models have been proposed for alcoholism, cigarette smoking, and other addictive disorders. According Marlatt and Gordon’s (1985) model, the most effective way to increase the likelihood of recovery after relapse is to:
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shift attention from internal to external antecedents.
Marlatt and Gordon’s (1985) model emphasizes the impact of cognitive and situational factors on relapse. Marlatt and Gordon's (1985) “abstinence violation effect “ (AVE) model considers recovery after relapse to be related to attributions about the cause of the relapse – i.e., successful recovery is more likely when the person attributes relapse to external, unstable, and specific (high-risk) factors than when he/she attributes it to internal, stable, and global factors. |
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Emelina E., age 4, has learned that, when she approaches her father while he is watching a football game on TV, her father ignores her, but when she approaches her father while he is watching any other type of TV show, he is willing to talk to and play with her. As a result, Emelina only approaches her father when he is not watching football. Emelina’s behavior illustrates which of the following?
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stimulus control
Emelina has learned that she will not be reinforced for approaching her father when he is watching a football game but will be reinforced if she approaches him when he is watching other types of TV shows. A behavior is “under stimulus control” when it is more likely to occur in the presence of certain stimuli than in the presence of other stimuli because the stimuli signal whether or not reinforcement for the behavior will be provided. |
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Bandura's social learning theory posits that:
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people can acquire behaviors without actually performing them.
Bandura's social learning theory is distinguished from behavioral theories by its recognition of the role of cognitive (covert) factors in learning. Bandura distinguished between learning and performance and proposed that people can learn (acquire) behaviors without actually performing them by observing others perform those behaviors. |
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__________ memory is the aspect of memory that is involved in the recall of information acquired within the past few hours to days.
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long-term
The three-store model of memory divides it into three components: sensory, short-term, and long-term memory. Information acquired in the past few hours to days would be part of recent long-term memory. Working memory is part of short-term memory and is responsible for the temporary storage and manipulation of information (e.g., remembering a phone number until you have dialed it). Prospective memory refers to the ability to "remember to remember” (e.g., to remember a future appointment). |
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When Angie plays the slot machines in Atlantic City, she will be reinforced on the basis of:
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Slot machines use intermittent reinforcement to reduce the likelihood of extinction.
VR - Angie will be reinforced on a variable ratio schedule, which is the intermittent schedule least vulnerable to extinction. VR - the interval of time between reinforcers with the length of time varying unpredictably from trial to trial FR - the number of responses between reinforcers with the number remaining the same from trial to trial describes a fixed ratio schedule. FI - the interval of time between reinforcers with the length of time remaining constant from trial to trial describes a fixed interval schedule. |
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systematic desenditization
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Systematic desensitization, a behavioral technique originally developed by Wolpe, is based on counterconditioning.
Systematic desensitization, a procedure for reducing anxiety, involves pairing anxiety-producing stimuli with relaxation in order to reduce the anxiety. The pairing of incompatible responses (e.g., anxiety and relaxation) to reduce an undesirable response (anxiety) is referred to as counterconditioning. Use of counterconditioning to reduce an undesirable behavior is based on the assumption that a response can be eliminated by pairing it with an incompatible response; e.g., pairing anxiety with relaxation. Counterconditioning underlies systematic desensitization and often involves pairing an anxiety response with relaxation. Habituation refers to a decrease in responding as the result of repeated exposure. Aversive counterconditioning reduces the attractiveness of a stimulus or behavior by repeatedly pairing that stimulus or behavior with a stimulus that produces an unpleasant response. Note that both aversive counterconditioning and systematic desensitization are based on principles of classical conditioning. |
