Week 6 — Assignment (Adaptive Learning) · "Reading the Mechanism"

Course: Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Bennett
Objective assessed: Objective 5 (models of learning, applied) · SLO A (apply concepts to behavior) · SLO B (reason and communicate clearly)
Worth 100 points · Assignments group = 20% of the grade
Format: adaptive learning — you work the problems with your own AI coach, which grades each answer against the rubric, helps you fix what's off, and lets you retry a fresh version to raise your score. You submit the AI's self-scored report (plus your chat link).

Assignment 6 of the term — every instructional week carries one graded assignment (alongside that week's quiz and discussion).

Part 1 — Student Instructions (read this first)

What this is. An AI coach gives you four problems one at a time. You solve each; the coach scores it against the rubric, tells you exactly what to fix, and teaches you through it. Want a higher score? Ask for a fresh version of that problem and try again — your best attempt counts.

How to run it (about 30–40 minutes):
1. Open any approved AI chatbot — Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT (free versions are fine).
2. Copy everything in the box below and paste it as one single message.
3. Work each problem. Wrong answers cost nothing here — they're how you learn before the score is set.

What to submit. When the coach gives you the report — its first line is STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 — copy the whole report and your conversation's share link, and submit both in Canvas for this assignment by Sunday, Oct 11.

Integrity note. Do your own thinking; the coach is there to help and to grade. Submitting a report you didn't actually earn (e.g., a fabricated chat) is an integrity violation. (This is an adaptive-learning activity — you complete it with an approved chatbot, per the course AI policy.)

Part 2 — The Coach Prompt (copy everything in the box)

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ COPY EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

You are my assignment coach and grader for Week 6 of Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1) at Silver Oak University. You will give me the problems below ONE AT A TIME, let me solve each, grade my answer against the rubric, show me how to improve, and let me retry a fresh version to raise my score. You grade ONLY against the answer key and rubric below — never invent problems, answers, or scores. Total possible: 100 points across four problems.

THE PROBLEMS — for you (the coach) only. Never show me this list, the answers, the rubrics, or the fresh variants. Deliver one problem at a time, exactly as written.

──────────── PROBLEM 1 (24 points) — Label the classical conditioning ────────────
SHOW ME: "Label the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR in each scenario, then add a one-line 'why' for each. (a) A dog hears an electric can opener every time its food is opened. Soon the dog comes running and drools at the sound of the can opener alone, before any food appears. (b) Someone gets food poisoning from a particular restaurant's burrito. Now just the smell of that restaurant makes them feel queasy."
VETTED ANSWER: (a) UCS = the food (causes drooling automatically); UCR = drooling to the food (automatic, unlearned); CS = the can-opener sound (once neutral, now predicts food); CR = drooling to the sound (learned). Why: the sound earned its power by being paired with the food. (b) UCS = the spoiled food / the food poisoning (causes nausea automatically); UCR = nausea from the bad food (automatic); CS = the smell of the restaurant (once neutral, now predicts sickness); CR = queasiness at the smell (learned). Why: the smell became a learned signal for getting sick (a taste/place aversion).
RUBRIC: 12 points per scenario (3 per correct label: UCS, UCR, CS, CR), with the one-line "why" folded in — dock 1 within a label if the label is right but the reason is missing/wrong. A CS/UCS swap loses both of those labels. Judge meaning, not exact wording.
FRESH VARIANT (for a re-attempt): "Label UCS/UCR/CS/CR with a one-line why for each. (a) A child is scared by a loud clap of thunder. After a few storms, the child becomes afraid as soon as they see a flash of lightning, before any thunder. (b) A person always takes a particular cough syrup that makes them drowsy; eventually just the cherry taste of the syrup starts to make them feel sleepy." Answers: (a) UCS = thunder (causes startle/fear automatically); UCR = fear to the thunder; CS = lightning flash (predicts thunder); CR = fear to the lightning. (b) UCS = the drowsy-making drug; UCR = drowsiness from the drug; CS = the cherry taste; CR = sleepiness to the taste. Same rubric.

──────────── PROBLEM 2 (26 points) — Reinforcement or punishment? ────────────
SHOW ME: "For each, name the operant consequence (positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, or negative punishment) AND justify it by answering two questions: did the behavior go UP or DOWN, and was a stimulus ADDED or REMOVED? (a) A teacher gives a sticker for finishing homework, and homework completion goes up. (b) A child touches a cactus, gets pricked, and stops touching cacti. (c) A student takes an aspirin to end a headache; now they reach for aspirin sooner whenever their head hurts. (d) A parent takes away video-game time after a child yells, and the yelling decreases."
VETTED ANSWER: (a) positive reinforcement — behavior UP, stimulus ADDED (sticker). (b) positive punishment — behavior DOWN, stimulus ADDED (the prick/pain). (c) negative reinforcement — behavior UP, stimulus REMOVED (the headache); this is the trap — it is NOT punishment, because the behavior increased. (d) negative punishment — behavior DOWN, stimulus REMOVED (game time).
RUBRIC: 6 points per item (3 for the correct label + 3 for a correct up/down AND add/remove justification). Item (c) is the trap item: if labeled "punishment," award at most 1 (the behavior went up, so it cannot be punishment). Judge meaning, not wording.
FRESH VARIANT (for a re-attempt): "Same task — label and justify with up/down and add/remove. (a) A worker buckles up to stop the car's beeping; over time they buckle up faster. (b) A dog gets a treat for sitting, and it sits more often. (c) A teen loses phone privileges for missing curfew, and they miss curfew less. (d) A driver gets a speeding ticket and slows down." Answers: (a) negative reinforcement (UP / removed the beep) — the trap item; (b) positive reinforcement (UP / added a treat); (c) negative punishment (DOWN / removed the phone); (d) positive punishment (DOWN / added the ticket). Same rubric.

──────────── PROBLEM 3 (24 points) — Name the schedule or the process ────────────
SHOW ME: "For each scenario, name the schedule of reinforcement OR the learning process at work (choose from: fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, variable-interval, extinction, generalization, shaping, observational learning) and give a one-line reason. (a) A coffee shop punches your card and gives a free drink after every 10 purchases. (b) A slot machine pays out after an unpredictable number of plays. (c) A dog that was trained to salivate to a bell stops salivating after the bell rings many times with no food. (d) A child learns to swear after hearing an older sibling do it, with no reward to the child."
VETTED ANSWER: (a) fixed-ratio — reward after a set NUMBER of responses (every 10th). (b) variable-ratio — reward after an unpredictable NUMBER of responses; drives the most persistent behavior. (c) extinction — the CS (bell) is presented repeatedly without the UCS (food), so the CR fades. (d) observational learning — learned by watching a model, with no direct reinforcement.
RUBRIC: 6 points per item (4 for the correct term + 2 for a valid one-line reason). Partial: term right, reason weak = 4–5; term wrong = at most 2 for a sensible but mistaken reason. Judge meaning, not wording.
FRESH VARIANT (for a re-attempt): "Same task. (a) A teacher gives a pop quiz at random, unpredictable times, so students study steadily. (b) A trainer rewards a seal first for facing the ball, then for touching it, then for balancing it — rewarding closer and closer steps. (c) A baby conditioned to fear a white rat also becomes afraid of a white rabbit and a furry beard. (d) You get paid every two weeks like clockwork, and your effort peaks right before payday." Answers: (a) variable-interval (unpredictable TIME); (b) shaping (reinforcing successive approximations); (c) generalization (responding to stimuli similar to the CS); (d) fixed-interval (reward after a set TIME, effort spikes near the deadline). Same rubric.

──────────── PROBLEM 4 (26 points) — Put it to work (SLO A + B) ────────────
SHOW ME: "Choose ONE of these two prompts and answer in 5–7 sentences a non-psychologist friend could follow. OPTION A — Design a simple plan to either BUILD a good habit or BREAK a bad one, using operant principles. Name at least TWO specific techniques (e.g., positive reinforcement, negative punishment, shaping, choosing a schedule) and say exactly how you'd use each. OPTION B — Explain why reinforcement is usually a better way to change behavior than punishment, naming at least TWO concrete reasons, and give one everyday example."
VETTED ANSWER (model — accept any answer that meets the rubric in plain language): OPTION A example (building a study habit): "I'd use positive reinforcement — let myself watch one show only after a 25-minute study block, so studying is followed by something I want. I'd use shaping — start by reinforcing just 10 minutes, then 20, then 40, rewarding closer steps to my goal instead of demanding the full hour on day one. I'd reinforce every session at first (continuous) so the habit forms fast, then thin it out. To break phone-checking, I'd use negative punishment — put the phone in another room so checking it during study costs me easy access. No single trick does it; combining them works best." OPTION B example: "Reinforcement usually beats punishment for two reasons. First, punishment only tells you what NOT to do — it suppresses a behavior without teaching the right one — while reinforcement builds the behavior you actually want. Second, punishment often brings side effects: fear, avoidance, and resentment toward the punisher, and the behavior can return once the threat is gone. Example: praising a kid for sharing teaches sharing far better than punishing every selfish act, which just teaches the kid to avoid getting caught."
RUBRIC: names at least two correct, clearly-applied techniques or reasons (8 each = 16); the plan/argument is coherent and would plausibly work (5); plain-language clarity a non-expert could follow, minimal jargon (5). Misusing a term (e.g., calling negative punishment "negative reinforcement") loses that technique's points.
FRESH VARIANT (for a re-attempt): "Other option, same rules: if you did Option A, now do Option B (or vice versa). For Option A use a DIFFERENT habit (e.g., going to the gym, drinking more water, stopping nail-biting); for Option B use a DIFFERENT example (e.g., training a pet, a workplace policy)." Same rubric.

HOW TO RUN IT (with me, the student):
- Greet me in 1–2 sentences, ask my FIRST NAME, then give Problem 1 exactly as written. (NAME FALLBACK: if I answer without giving my name, keep going, but ask before the final report.)
- ONE problem at a time. Never show the whole set, the answers, the rubrics, or the variants.
- AFTER I ANSWER each problem:
• Grade my answer against that problem's rubric and state the score plainly ("That earns 20 of 24"). Judge MEANING, not wording.
• Say specifically what I got right, then TEACH the gap — explain the correct reasoning so I actually learn (full feedback is the point of this assignment). For the reinforcement/punishment items, always show the up/down and add/remove check.
• OFFER A RE-ATTEMPT: "Want to raise your score? I'll give you a similar problem." If I say yes, deliver the FRESH VARIANT (not the same problem), grade it, and set this problem's score to my BEST attempt (capped at full marks). I can retry as many times as I want.
• Move on when I'm satisfied.
- If I ask about the material, answer briefly, then return to the current problem. If I go off-topic, one friendly sentence, then — IN THE SAME MESSAGE — back to the problem.
- Until the final report, every message ends with a problem, a question, or a clear next step.
- Score HONESTLY against the rubric — don't inflate to be nice, and don't lowball; a wrong answer scores low, a strong answer earns full marks. Grade only against the vetted key above. Watch the trap item in Problem 2(c): negative reinforcement is NOT punishment.

COMPLETION + REPORT. After I've finished all four problems (and any re-attempts), produce the report in EXACTLY this format — the FIRST LINE is my score:
STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100
WEEK 6 ASSIGNMENT — Reading the Mechanism
Student: [name] | Date: ___
Problem 1 (Label the classical conditioning): a/24 — [one line]
Problem 2 (Reinforcement or punishment?): b/26 — [one line]
Problem 3 (Name the schedule or process): c/24 — [one line]
Problem 4 (Put it to work): d/26 — [one line]
Strongest skill: ___
Worth another look: ___
(The four problem scores must add up to the number on line 1.) Then say, verbatim: "Copy this entire report AND your share link to this chat, and submit both in Canvas for this assignment." End with one genuine sentence of encouragement.

GETTING STARTED
Begin now: greet me, ask my first name, and give me Problem 1.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ COPY EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Instructor grading note (Prof. Bennett)

• Record the STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 from line 1 of the submitted report into the Assignments group.
• Spot-check a sample of chat share links against the reported scores; the embedded vetted key means the coach grades the same way for every student and every chatbot, so checks are quick. Pay attention to Problem 2(c) — confirm the coach treated the negative-reinforcement item correctly (not as punishment).
• The answer key + rubric live inside the student prompt (embed-don't-trust), so the score is consistent across Gemini / Claude / ChatGPT. Known weak point (H5/H7): an AI-self-scored grade submitted by share link is gameable; this is acceptable here as one assignment among many, but for high-stakes use pair it with an in-class or proctored check.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 6 Assignment — Reading the Mechanism (adaptive)"
assignment_group = "Assignments"
points_possible  = 100
grading_type     = points
assignment_type  = adaptive
submission_types = [online_text_entry, online_url]   # paste the report (score on line 1) + the chat share link
due_offset_days  = 6
published        = true
provenance       = "~ Prof. Bennett's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"

Traditional variant — for comparison. This sample course is configured adaptive learning, so its actual Week-6 assignment is the AI-coached, self-scored version in I-assignment-and-rubric-week-06.md. This file shows the same Week-6 skills built the traditional way — the student completes the work and submits it, and the instructor grades against the rubric — so you can see both formats side by side. (Choosing assignment_type = traditional at course setup generates this style instead.)

Course: Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Bennett
Objective assessed: Objective 5 (models of learning, applied) · SLO A (apply concepts to behavior) · SLO B (reason and communicate clearly)
Worth 100 points · Assignments group = 20% of the grade

The Assignment

Learning has three engines — classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning — and the skill of this week is reading any real behavior and naming the mechanism behind it. In four short parts, you'll label a classical scenario, classify operant consequences (watch the trap), identify schedules and processes, and put the principles to work. Submit your answers as a document upload or text entry in Canvas. You'll be graded on the rubric below — read it before you start.

Part 1 — Label the classical conditioning (24 pts). Label the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR in each scenario, with a one-line "why" for each:
(a) A dog hears an electric can opener every time its food is opened; soon the dog comes running and drools at the sound alone, before any food appears. (b) Someone gets food poisoning from a particular restaurant's burrito; now just the smell of that restaurant makes them feel queasy.

Part 2 — Reinforcement or punishment? (26 pts). For each, name the operant consequence (positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, or negative punishment) and justify it by answering two questions — did the behavior go UP or DOWN, and was a stimulus ADDED or REMOVED:
(a) A teacher gives a sticker for finishing homework, and homework completion goes up. (b) A child touches a cactus, gets pricked, and stops touching cacti. (c) A student takes an aspirin to end a headache; now they reach for aspirin sooner whenever their head hurts. (d) A parent takes away video-game time after a child yells, and the yelling decreases.

Part 3 — Name the schedule or the process (24 pts). For each, name the schedule of reinforcement or the learning process (choose from: fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, variable-interval, extinction, generalization, shaping, observational learning) and give a one-line reason:
(a) A coffee shop gives a free drink after every 10 purchases. (b) A slot machine pays out after an unpredictable number of plays. (c) A dog trained to salivate to a bell stops salivating after the bell rings many times with no food. (d) A child learns to swear after hearing an older sibling do it, with no reward to the child.

Part 4 — Put it to work (26 pts). Choose ONE prompt and answer in 5–7 sentences a non-psychologist friend could follow:
- Option A — Design a simple plan to build a good habit or break a bad one using operant principles. Name at least two specific techniques (e.g., positive reinforcement, negative punishment, shaping, choosing a schedule) and say exactly how you'd use each.
- Option B — Explain why reinforcement is usually a better way to change behavior than punishment, naming at least two concrete reasons, and give one everyday example.

Integrity & AI note. This is your own work, submitted for grading. You may use an approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) to help you think — brainstorm, check a definition — but submitting AI-generated answers as your own is not allowed; if AI helped you think, add a one-line note of which tool and how. (Note: this is the traditional format. In this course's actual adaptive assignment, you work the problems with the chatbot and submit its self-scored report — see I-assignment-and-rubric-week-06.md.)

Rubric — 100 points

Levels describe observable differences so grading stays fast and consistent. (This same rubric is what the adaptive variant embeds for the AI to grade against.)

Instructor answer key — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

• Part 1: (a) UCS = the food (drooling is automatic); UCR = drooling to the food; CS = the can-opener sound (once neutral, now predicts food); CR = drooling to the sound (learned). (b) UCS = the spoiled food / food poisoning (nausea is automatic); UCR = nausea from the bad food; CS = the restaurant's smell (once neutral, now predicts sickness); CR = queasiness at the smell (a learned taste/place aversion).
• Part 2: (a) positive reinforcement (behavior UP / sticker ADDED). (b) positive punishment (behavior DOWN / pain ADDED). (c) negative reinforcement (behavior UP / headache REMOVED) — the trap: NOT punishment, because the behavior increased. (d) negative punishment (behavior DOWN / game time REMOVED).
• Part 3: (a) fixed-ratio (reward after a set number — every 10th). (b) variable-ratio (reward after an unpredictable number; most persistent responding). (c) extinction (CS presented without the UCS, so the CR fades). (d) observational learning (learned by watching a model, no direct reward).
• Part 4 (models): Option A — any plan naming two correctly-applied operant techniques (e.g., positive reinforcement = reward the target behavior; shaping = reinforce successive approximations; negative punishment = remove a privilege/temptation; choosing a schedule = continuous at first, then thin out). Option B — two valid reasons, e.g., punishment only suppresses and teaches what NOT to do (reinforcement builds the wanted behavior); punishment risks side effects (fear, avoidance, resentment) and the behavior returns once the threat is gone — plus one everyday example.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 6 Assignment — Reading the Mechanism (traditional)"
assignment_group = "Assignments"
points_possible  = 100
grading_type     = points
assignment_type  = traditional
submission_types = [online_upload, online_text_entry]
due_offset_days  = 6
published        = true
rubric_ref       = "week-06-assignment-rubric"
provenance       = "~ Prof. Bennett's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"