Social Problems Answer Key Part 6

188. Which type of neuron becomes active when we engage in observational learning? A) B) C) D) Sensory neuron Interneuron Mirror neuron Motor neuron Answer: C) Mirror neuron 189. Mirror neurons are a group of neurons in the __________ that become active when observing another performing an action. A) B) C) D) motor cortex occipital lobe prefrontal cortex limbic system Answer: C) prefrontal cortex 190. You and your friends are watching a football game on television, and one of the players gets badly injured. Each of you winces in pain almost as if you could feel or imagine the injury. Researchers have argued that __________ are responsible for this type of observational learning. A) B) C) D) parietal lobe neurons temporospatial neurons somatosensory neurons mirror neurons Answer: D) mirror neurons 191. Which scholar and concept are correctly matched? A) B) C) D) Skinner and classical conditioning Kohler and insight learning Tolman and the law of effect Pavlov and instrumental conditioning Answer: B) Kohler and insight learning 192. __________ is to the "aha reaction" as __________ is to positive reinforcement. A) B) C) D) S-O-R psychology; negative reinforcement Shaping; latent learning Insight learning; the law of effect Fixed interval; variable ratio Answer: C) Insight learning; the law of effect 193. Every time Charlie eats asparagus, she ends up feeling sick. After this happened a few times, Charlie starts to feel ill even when she sees asparagus or people talk about it, and she avoids eating or being around it. Which of the following reflects the specific type of conditioning Charlie has experienced? A) B) C) D) Operant conditioning Avoidance conditioning Conditioned taste aversion Instrumental conditioning Answer: C) Conditioned taste aversion 194. In general, we develop associations best if stimuli or events occur close together. Which of the following types of learning seems to happen easily, even if the events occur hours apart? A) B) C) D) Operant conditioning Conditioned taste aversion Punishment Negative reinforcement Answer: B) Conditioned taste aversion 195. Which of the following is reflective of Seligman's research on conditioned taste aversion? A) B) Repeated pairings of the CS with the UCS are needed to produce a taste aversion. Once a taste aversion has been conditioned, it is relatively easily to extinguish this taste aversion. C) Conditioned taste aversion occurs only if the illness occurs immediately after eating. D) Unlike most classically conditioned reactions, only one pairing of the CS with the UCS is needed to produce a taste aversion. Answer: D) Unlike most classically conditioned reactions, only one pairing of the CS with the UCS is needed to produce a taste aversion. 196. Last month Walter became sick after eating two chili dogs, so he no longer likes chili dogs. Walter has experienced A) B) C) D) blocking. conditioned taste aversion. operant taste conditioning. noncontingent conditioning. Answer: B) conditioned taste aversion. 197. Your friend Hannah is about to begin chemotherapy treatments for cancer. She read in an information packet that chemotherapy patients often develop aversions to their favourite foods due to illness associated with the treatments. Which of the following would you recommend to Hannah to help her avoid these aversions? A) Prior to her chemotherapy, Hannah should eat an unfamiliar 'scapegoat' food so that any aversions she develops will be associated with the scapegoat and not her favourite foods. B) Hannah should continue to eat her favourite foods despite taste aversions as those will eventually go away and her favourite foods will make her feel better. C) Taste aversions only occur to unfamiliar foods so she should eat familiar foods prior to chemotherapy. D) Taste aversions require repeated pairings to develop and as long as she eats something different prior to each chemotherapy treatment, she shouldn't develop any taste aversions. Answer: A) Prior to her chemotherapy, Hannah should eat an unfamiliar 'scapegoat' food so that any aversions she develops will be associated with the scapegoat and not her favourite foods. 198. Cancer patients may be asked to __________ prior to chemotherapy treatments to avoid conditioned taste aversions. A) B) C) D) participate in aversive conditioning meditate make themselves vomit eat an unfamiliar scapegoat food Answer: D) eat an unfamiliar scapegoat food 199. Which of the following people is most likely to develop a conditioned taste aversion? A) B) C) D) Someone who eats the same foods every day. Someone who likes to experiment with new foods regularly. Someone who is undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Someone who is recovering from addiction. Answer: A) Someone who eats the same foods every day. 200. Which learning theorist is responsible for the discovery of biological influences on conditioned taste aversions? A) B) C) D) Thorndike Garcia Skinner Watson Answer: B) Garcia 201. A farmer is being troubled by coyotes eating his sheep. In an attempt to solve the problem, he kills a sheep and laces its body with a nausea-inducing drug. He leaves the sheep out where he knows the coyotes roam. He hopes they will learn not to eat the sheep. The farmer is attempting to apply the research of __________ to accomplish this. A) B) C) D) Skinner Bandura Tolman Garcia Answer: D) Garcia 202. A farmer is being troubled by coyotes eating his sheep. In an attempt to solve the problem, he kills a sheep and laces its body with a nausea-inducing drug. He leaves the sheep out where he knows the coyotes roam. He hopes they will learn not to eat the sheep. The farmer is attempting to apply the principles of __________ to accomplish this. A) observational learning B) latent learning C) instrumental conditioning D) classical conditioning Answer: D) classical conditioning 203. Your parakeet eats some cooked spaghetti. Later, the parakeet gets ill. Based on evidence about the specificity of conditioned taste aversions, which of the following would your bird find most aversive in future? A) B) C) D) The location where the spaghetti was eaten. The sight of the pasta pot. The person who fed spaghetti to the bird. The smell or taste of spaghetti. Answer: D) The smell or taste of spaghetti. 204. John Garcia's research on conditioned taste aversions helped to disprove the concept of equipotentiality. He exposed some rats to X-rays, which made them nauseated, all rats were exposed to flavoured water and specific sounds. Which of the following results was critical as evidence against equipotentiality? A) B) C) D) After exposure to X-rays, rats develop an aversion to the sounds. After exposure to X-rays, rats develop an aversion to the flavours. After exposure to X-rays, rats develop an aversion to both sounds and flavours. After exposure to X-rays, some rats developed preferences for the flavours. Answer: B) After exposure to X-rays, rats develop an aversion to the flavours. 205. People are likely to develop phobias of things that are dangerous in the natural world, like snakes or bears, even if they never encounter those things in their lives. People are unlikely to develop phobias of modern equipment, like stoves or motorcycles, even if those items hurt them. Which of the following terms is used to help explain this odd fact? A) B) C) D) preparedness latent inhibition instinctive drift equipotentiality Answer: A) preparedness 206. Human beings generally have an aversion to bitter and sour foods. Some researchers suggest that this is because foods that are inedible or even poisonous are often bitter or sour. The tendency of human beings to find these potentially harmful foods repulsive is an example of A) B) C) D) classical conditioning. vicarious conditioning. conditioned emotional response. biological preparedness. Answer: D) biological preparedness. 207. In laboratory experiments, monkeys have an easier time learning to fear pictures of snakes than pictures of flowers. Which principle does this evidence support? A) B) C) D) equipotentiality preparedness extinction latent learning Answer: B) preparedness 208. Research on phobias has suggested that the stimuli that people are most commonly afraid of may have an evolutionary basis, and were stimuli that posed a threat to our early human ancestors. Which of the following concepts fits with this explanation? A) B) C) D) Insight learning Latent learning Preparedness Discrimination learning Answer: C) Preparedness 209. Some researchers have suggested that it is easier to develop a fear or phobia of things that we don't see very often (like snakes or cliffs) but difficult to develop a fear of things we see every day (like knives or electrical outlets). Which term is used for this concept? A) B) C) D) Instinctive drift Latent inhibition Spontaneous recovery The law of effect Answer: B) Latent inhibition 210. Tina trained her dog to fetch her slippers, and would give him a treat each time he did it. She's noticed that recently her dog has started chewing on her slippers instead of bringing them to her. Which of the following describes this sort of situation? A) B) C) D) Discrimination learning Instinctive drift Latent inhibition Insight learning Answer: B) Instinctive drift 211. The tendency for animals to return to innate or instinctive behaviours following repeated reinforcement is called A) B) C) D) equipotentiality. instinctive drift. latent inhibition. insight learning. Answer: B) instinctive drift. 212. Which of the following statements concerning sleep learning is most accurate? A) B) C) D) Sleep learning tapes work because we actively process information while we sleep. Sleep learning studies confirm that we can learn languages while we sleep. Most evidence from studies on sleep learning suggests that it is an effective learning strategy. Sleep learning tapes may work because we are likely not asleep when we listen to the tapes. Answer: D) Sleep learning tapes may work because we are likely not asleep when we listen to the tapes. 213. Darcy is trying a new method to improve his memory, and it claims to allow students to learn twice as much material in half as much time. Darcy tries out the new methods for a few days and feels like he was really focused and productive. He tells his friend that he knows that he'll do better on the exam now because this new method has really improved his learning. Which of the following has likely influenced Darcy's experience of the new method? A) Changes to the strength of classical conditioning. B) Engagement of mirror neurons C) Benefits associated with biological preparedness. D) Changes that can be attributed to the placebo effect. Answer: D) Changes that can be attributed to the placebo effect. 214. Which of the following is an example of discovery learning? A) B) C) D) A teacher individually assisting a student with a problem set A student working independently on a science project A student serving as a skilled assistant who teaches another student A student scoring well on a re-test after scoring low the first time Answer: B) A student working independently on a science project 215. Research on learning styles has demonstrated that A) individuals tend to learn best via one of four specific learning styles (e.g., visual, holistic). B) tailoring teaching methods to students' learning styles significantly improves their learning. C) there is little scientific evidence for learning styles and assessment of learning styles has not been reliable. D) individuals have a predominant learning style, or preferred mode of learning, as well as a secondary learning style, and teaching tailored to both of these dramatically increases performance. Answer: C) there is little scientific evidence for learning styles and assessment of learning styles has not been reliable. 216. Which of the following is most representative of research concerning learning styles? A) Most students have a specific learning style and teachers should tailor instruction to the individual student based on their learning style. B) Visual learners are not likely to enjoy tasks that involve analytical skills. C) Learning style inventories lack validity and reliability, so it is difficult to predict how a certain student will learn best. D) Linguistic learners are likely to struggle with tasks that involve mathematical skills. Answer: C) Learning style inventories lack validity and reliability, so it is difficult to predict how a certain student will learn best. Fill-in-the-blank 1. Pavlov developed the theory of __________ conditioning. Answer: a. classical 2. In Pavlov's classic salivating dog experiment, food is the __________ stimulus. Answer: a. unconditioned 3. In classical conditioning, after repeated learning trials the conditioned stimulus will come to elicit a __________ response. Answer: a. conditioned 4. In classical conditioning, the CR and the __________ are usually the same, or very similar. Answer: a. UCR 5. The learning phase when the CS becomes associated with the UCS is known as __________ and can happen fast or slow. Answer: a. acquisition 6. The process by which the CS no longer produces the CR is called __________ . Answer: a. extinction 7. If a white rat is conditioned to produce fear in a child and soon all white furry animals are feared by the child, stimulus __________ is said to occur. Answer: a. generalization 8. Marketing executives use __________ conditioning when they employ celebrities to sell products. Answer: a. classical 9. In Watson's study involving "Little Albert," a white rat was the __________ in the aversive conditioning trials. Answer: a. CS 10. According to Thorndike's __________ , behaviour that is followed by rewards should become 'stamped in' and will increase in the future. Answer: a. law of effect 11. Skinner is most closely associated with developing the theory of __________ conditioning. Answer: a. operant 12. If students with "A" averages don't have to do a final exam, then that is an example of __________ for getting good grades. Answer: a. negative reinforcement 13. One of the side effects of __________ is that people may just get sneakier about their behaviour, so that they don't get caught. Answer: a. punishment 14. A teacher states that all students who complete five word problems by the end of class will be exempt from homework. The teacher is using a __________ schedule of reinforcement. Answer: a. fixed ratio 15. If you are paid every Friday, regardless of how much work you've done, then you've been paid on a __________ schedule of reinforcement. Answer: a. fixed interval 16. The schedule of reinforcement described as being most resistant to __________ is variable ratio, because people seem to get 'hooked' on that type of schedule. Answer: a. extinction 17. The procedure of __________ trains a new behaviour by initially rewarding any behaviour that is similar to the target behaviour. Answer: a. shaping 18. Most token economy conditioning strategies use chips, tokens, or points as __________ reinforcers, instead of naturally rewarding items. Answer: a. secondary 19. A reinforcer that naturally rewards a behaviour is considered to be a __________ reinforcer. Answer: a. primary 20. If Sam is afraid of spiders, it is likely that his fear of spiders is maintained by __________ reinforcement when he avoids spiders to reduce his fear. Answer: a. negative 21. Tolman demonstrated __________ learning by showing that rats learn mazes even in the absence of reinforcement. Answer: a. latent 22. Bandura's Bobo-doll studies demonstrated that __________ learning can lead to increased aggression in children. Answer: a. observational 23. One of the problems with interpreting the research on media violence is that most of the research is correlational and therefore is lower in __________ validity. Answer: a. internal 24. When one monkey watches another monkey perform an action, cells called __________ neurons become active. Answer: a. mirror 25. Conditioned taste aversions and instinctive drift both likely result from biological __________ . Answer: a. preparedness Critical Thinking 1. What conditioning technique would be best if you wanted to make your roommate enjoy your favourite music more? Be specific and describe the steps, using appropriate terminology. Answer: Answers will vary, but for full marks the answer should have the following components: The technique should be classical conditioning, because you are attempting to change a reaction to a stimulus, and not a voluntary behaviour (which would be operant conditioning). The music (CS) should be paired with something your friend already likes (UCS) which will elicit positive feelings (UCR). After repeated pairings of the CS with UCS, then the music (CS) should elicit positive feelings (CR). 2. Imagine that your friend has told you a joke. Provide examples of how you could apply positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. Indicate also what effect each of those four consequences would have on your friend's likelihood of telling jokes. Answer: Answers will vary, but for full marks the answer should have the following components: Positive reinforcement will add something 'nice' like giving praise or candy. This should increase the likelihood of telling more jokes. Negative reinforcement will take away something unpleasant, like telling your friend that they don't have to pay for coffee or don't have to do chores. This should increase the likelihood of telling more jokes. Positive punishment will add something unpleasant, like hitting your friend or yelling at them. This should decrease the likelihood of telling more jokes. Negative punishment will take away something nice, like removing your attention (walking away) or taking away cookies. This should decrease the likelihood of telling more jokes. 3. Use the two-process model to describe how phobias develop, and how they are maintained. Be specific and use the appropriate terminology for both classical and operant conditioning. Answer: The two process model specifies that phobias are developed through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning. Specifically, a stimulus like a dog (CS) is paired with a frightening event like a bite (UCS) which elicits fear (UCR). Afterward the dog (CS) elicits fear (CR). Once you're afraid of a stimulus, you try to avoid it and this reduces your fear through negative reinforcement. This negative reinforcement makes it more likely that you will avoid the stimulus again in the future, so your fear is strengthened. 4. Describe how conditioned taste aversions develop, how this type of conditioning is different from typical classical conditioning, and how principles of learning are being used to avoid or reduce aversions in cancer patients. Answer: Answers will vary but the following points are required The CS (taste/smell) is paired with the UCS (illness) which elicits the UCR (nausea/discomfort) and then afterward the CS (taste/smell) will elicit the CR (nausea/aversion). Does not require multiple pairings (unlike most classical conditioning) Does not require the CS and US to occur close together in time (unlike most classical conditioning). Conditioned taste aversions are a particular problem among cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, which frequently induces nausea and vomiting. As a result, they often develop an aversion to any food that preceded chemotherapy, even though they realize it bears no logical connection to the treatment. Capitalizing on the specificity of conditioned taste aversions, they ask cancer patients to eat an unfamiliar scapegoat food —a novel food of which they aren't fond—prior to chemotherapy. In general, the taste aversion becomes conditioned to the scapegoat food rather than to patients' preferred foods Essay 1. Benny is three years old and he is very afraid of traffic. One time when he was waiting with his Dad to cross the street, a car drove through the red light, honking the horn very close to Benny. Benny started crying. Ever since then, Benny is very nervous at crosswalks and holds onto his parents' hands very tightly. Identify the CS, UCS, UCR and CR for this example of classical conditioning. Answer: Answers should contain the following for full credit. 2. Describe how you would use the principles of classical conditioning to condition a child who is afraid of cats to be comfortable with a neighbour's cat. Describe a procedure similar to the one used by Mary Cover Jones. Answer: Answers will vary but should contain the following for full credit. - The cat is the CS and CR is fear. - To establish a new CR to replace fear, you need to provide a new UCS. - One can use ice cream (a UCS) or something else that the child likes. - Start by associating the idea or thought of the cat with ice cream. - Work up to having the cat in the same room while the child gets ice cream. - move the cat closer and closer over time - Eventually, the child should be able to experience the CS (cat) without fear (CR) or even to experience pleasure (new CR) 3. Distinguish between positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. Provide an example of each. Answer: Answers will vary but should contain the following information for full credit. - Positive reinforcement: presenting a desirable stimulus; increases target behaviour; gold star on homework - Negative reinforcement: removing an undesirable stimulus; increases target behaviour; static on phone that subsides when you move to a different spot in your room - Positive punishment: presenting an undesirable stimulus; decreases target behaviour; scolding by parents - Negative punishment: removing a desirable stimulus; decreases target behaviour; taking away a child's dessert 4. What are the four main disadvantages of punishment? Answer: Answers will vary but should contain the following information for full credit. (1) Punishment only tells the organism what not to do, not what to do. A child who's punished for throwing a tantrum won't learn how to deal with frustration more constructively. (2) Punishment often creates anxiety, which in turn interferes with future learning. (3) Punishment may encourage subversive behaviour, prompting people to become sneakier about the situations in which they can and can't display forbidden behaviour. A child who's punished for grabbing his brother's toys may learn to grab his brother's toys only when his parents aren't looking. (4) Punishment from parents may provide a model for children's aggressive behaviour. A child whose parents slap him when he misbehaves may "get the message" that slapping is acceptable. 5. Describe how parents could use operant conditioning to motivate their child to move from a "C" student to an "A" student. Discuss positive and negative reinforcement, punishment, and the schedule(s) of reinforcement that you would employ. Answer: Answers will vary but should contain the following for full credit. - Must be a description of the operant behaviour. Is it studying behaviour? Is it the grades themselves? Is it evidence of completed homework? Something must be described as the operant behaviour. Must be at least one example of each of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment - Positive reinforcement would consist of increased allowance or the promise of new electronic games or CDs and presents in the form of gift cards for improved grades. - Negative reinforcement would consist of periodic removal of chores and early bedtimes and periodic removal of restrictions on television viewing during the week. - Punishment in the form of increased restrictions placed on television viewing, increased chores, suspended allowance, and restrictions placed on electronic games. Punishments will occur if grades fall under a C average or if appropriate studying behaviours were skipped. Must be at least one example of a schedule of reinforcement - Must be accurate use of terms (e.g., VR schedule reinforced for an average amount of work, not specific amount, or FI schedule reinforced for turning in homework each day) 6. If you owned a business and needed to increase worker productivity, describe how you would do so using operant conditioning. Outline at least two reinforcers that you would employ and the ideal schedule or schedules of reinforcement that you would use. Answer: Answers will vary but should contain the following for full credit. - must be at least two reinforcers, and should specify whether it is positive or negative - payment would be positive reinforcement, as would bonuses, praise, privileges - extra time off would be negative reinforcement, as would getting to avoid a hated part of the job - must be at least one schedule of reinforcement, and the same schedule could be used for each reinforcer - should be accurately represented, e.g., payment on Fixed Ratio schedule, so that workers must make 10 products to earn $$ - note that textbook doesn't clarify that working for an hourly wage isn't Fixed Interval (it's actually fixed duration, which isn't discussed in the text) so it is possible that students will indicate increased FI schedules for payment (e.g., $25/hr) to motivate workers - note that VR schedules result in the highest rate of work, at least in skinner boxes and at slot machines, so some mention of providing a bonus or praise after random amounts of work would be an ideal answer 7. What are the four schedules of reinforcement? Describe each and provide an example. Answer: Answers will vary but should contain the following concepts for full credit. (1) In a fixed ratio (FR) schedule, we provide reinforcement after a regular number of responses. For example, on an FR 15 schedule, we give a rat a food pellet for every 15 lever presses. Likewise, you might earn a dollar for every three bushels of apples you pick in an orchard. (2) In a fixed interval (FI) schedule, we provide reinforcement for the first response after a specified amount of time has passed. For example, on an FI two-minute schedule, we give the rat a food pellet for the first lever press it makes after two minutes have elapsed since the last food pellet. Any lever presses that it makes during the two-minute period will be ineffective. Likewise, we will get to talk to a customer service representative when we call the store after it opens one hour from now, but any phone calls before it opens will be ineffective. (3) In a variable ratio (VR) schedule, we provide reinforcement for a variable number of responses, with the number varying randomly around some average. A pigeon on a VR 10 schedule might receive a piece of bird feed after six pecks, then after 12 pecks, then after one peck, then after 21 pecks, with the average ratio being 10. (4) In a variable interval (VI) schedule, we provide reinforcement for the first response after a variable time interval, with the actual intervals varying randomly around some average. For example, on a VI 60-second schedule, we could give the rat a food pellet for the first response after a 20-second interval, then after an 80-second interval, then after a 50-second interval, then after a 90-second interval, with the average interval being 60 seconds. 8. Describe how operant conditioning helps to explain how people develop superstitions? Answer: Answers will vary but should contain the points that reflect the following for full credit. - reinforcement is delivered randomly, independent of behaviour - some aspect of behaviour is perceived as 'causing' the reinforcement - that behaviour becomes more likely in future - a relevant example should be provided, like winning a hockey game while wearing new socks, the socks are then perceived as lucky, so they are worn more in future (and future wins are attributed to the socks). 9. Explain how classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and biological preparedness relate to phobias. Answer: Answers will vary but should contain the following for full credit. - Acquisition with classical conditioning: Classical conditioning: a previously neutral stimulus—say, a dog—is paired with an unpleasant stimulus (the UCS)—a dog bite—resulting in the dog becoming a CS that elicits a CR of fear. - Maintenance with negative reinforcement: Once someone is phobic, they start to avoid their feared stimulus whenever they see it. And because they avoid the feared stimulus whenever they see it, they don't allow sufficient opportunity for their fear response to extinguish. For example, if they have a dog phobia, they may cross the street whenever they see someone walking toward them with a large German shepherd. When they do, they experience an immediate reduction in anxiety—a surge of relief—which negatively reinforces their tendency to avoid dogs in the future. - Preparedness: We're evolutionarily predisposed to fear certain stimuli more than others. According to Seligman, that's because certain stimuli, like steep cliffs and poisonous animals, posed a threat to our early human ancestors. In contrast, household items and appliances didn't, because they weren't around back then. In the words of Susan Mineka and Michael Cook (1993), prepared fears are "evolutionary memories": emotional legacies of natural selection.