Week 6 Quiz

In the can opener scenario, a dog drools when it hears the whir of the can opener, which has come right before dinner many times. In this scenario, which is the conditioned stimulus (CS)?

Select one.

• The food in the dog's bowl
• Drooling at the sight and smell of the food
• The whir of the can opener after the pairings
• Drooling at the whir of the can opener

Pressing snooze removes a blaring alarm, and over the following weeks the person presses snooze more and more often. Which consequence is this?

Select one.

• Positive punishment, because the alarm is unpleasant
• Negative reinforcement, because the alarm is removed and snoozing increases
• Negative punishment, because something is taken away
• Positive reinforcement, because the extra sleep feels good

A toddler touches a hot stove, pain follows right away, and the toddler touches the stove less often afterward. In this course's terms, which consequence is this?

Select one.

• Positive punishment: something unpleasant was added and the behavior decreased
• Negative punishment: something valued was removed and the behavior decreased
• Negative reinforcement: something unpleasant was removed and the behavior increased
• Positive reinforcement: something pleasant was added and the behavior increased

A slot machine pays out after an unpredictable number of pulls. Which schedule of reinforcement is this, and what is it known for?

Select one.

• Fixed-ratio, known for the most persistent responding because the reward is predictable
• Fixed-interval, because the payout depends on how much time has passed
• Variable-interval, because the payout depends on unpredictable time
• Variable-ratio, known for the highest and most extinction-resistant response rates

The family stops opening cans at dinner, and the dog's drooling at the whir fades. After a few days with no cans opened at all, one whir brings back some drooling, with no new training. What does the return of the drooling show?

Select one.

• Generalization, because a similar sound now triggers drooling
• Discrimination, because the dog now responds only to the can opener
• Spontaneous recovery, which shows extinction weakened the link but did not erase it
• Acquisition, because the link is forming for the first time

Watson and Rayner (1920) conditioned fear in an infant, the study now called Little Albert. Which of these explain why a review board would not approve the study today? Select all that apply.

Select every option that applies.

• An infant cannot give informed consent to take part
• Creating fear on purpose fails the protection-from-harm standard
• The study measured fear with a correlation instead of an experiment
• The study used random sampling instead of random assignment

In Bandura's Bobo doll study (1961), children who had watched an adult attack an inflatable doll were more likely to act aggressively toward it themselves. What was the independent variable (IV)?

Select one.

• Whether the child watched an adult attack the doll
• How aggressively the child then treated the doll
• Whether the child was rewarded for hitting the doll
• How many dolls were in the room

Negative reinforcement is a form of punishment, because something unpleasant is part of the situation.

True or false.

• True
• False

A student explains a habit of pressing snooze by pointing to the relief that followed pressing snooze in the past. Which perspective from the course's six perspectives explains behavior this way?

Select one.

• The biological perspective
• The behavioral perspective
• The cognitive perspective
• The psychodynamic perspective

B. F. Skinner, who followed John B. Watson as a leader of behaviorism, developed operant conditioning, in which the consequences that follow a voluntary behavior change how often it happens.

True or false.

• True
• False