Ap Psychology Midterm Study Guide

Psychologists formally define learning as:
A) a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that is due to past experience.
The process of learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses is called:
C) conditioning.
Essentially, classical conditioning is a process of learning:
D) an association between two stimuli.
If you shine a bright light directly into a person's eye, the pupil of the eye will reflexively constrict. Using Pavlov's terminology, the bright light would be termed the _____, and the pupil constricting would be termed the _____.
C) UCS; UCR
Pavlov found that once he conditioned a dog to salivate in response to a tone, a tone that was slightly higher or lower in pitch would also
make the dog salivate. This phenomenon is called:
D) stimulus generalization.
Fred's dog was classically conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell. Fred then repeatedly paired the bell with another stimulus, a whistle. Now whenever he blows the whistle, his dog salivates, even though the whistle has never been paired with food. This example illustrates:
A) higher order conditioning (second-order conditioning).
Every Friday, Dr. Cruz would give a quiz in his psychology class. Students quickly learned to be nervous on Friday mornings, just before each quiz. Halfway through the semester, Dr. Cruz stopped giving quizzes on Fridays and the students' anxiety began to diminish with each passing week in which there was no quiz. The decrease in the students' anxiety may be attributed to the process of:
B) extinction.
John B. Watson believed that psychology should study:
B) observable behavior.
The famous “Little Albert” study conducted by John Watson and Rosalie Rayner demonstrated:
B) that it was possible to condition an emotional reaction to a previously neutral stimulus.
Which of the following best illustrates classical conditioning?
C) Because his older brother once locked him in the closet, Allen gets anxious in small enclosed rooms.
Katie loves strong coffee and cheerfully admits that she depends on caffeine to help her wake up every day. One morning, her husband served her two cups of decaffeinated coffee without telling her. Nevertheless, she still felt more alert after drinking the decaffeinated coffee. Katie's alertness after drinking decaffeinated coffee is a(n):
D) classically conditioned response to the taste and smell of coffee, and other stimuli associated with it.
Classical conditioning involves _____, while operant conditioning involves _____.
A) reflexive behaviors; voluntary behaviors
What is the “law of effect”?
D) It was a principle formulated by Edward Thorndike that described how voluntary behaviors can be modified by their consequences.
In operant conditioning, reinforcement is:
C) defined by the effect that it produces—increasing or strengthening behavior.
Positive reinforcement _____ the likelihood of a behavior's being repeated. Negative reinforcement _____ the likelihood of a behavior's being repeated.
A) increases; increases
While a primary reinforcer derives its reinforcing value _____, conditioned reinforcers derive their reinforcing value _____.
B) naturally; from primary reinforcers
Negative reinforcement _____ the likelihood of a behavior being repeated, and punishment _____ the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.
B) increases; decreases
Which of the following statements about punishment is FALSE?
D) Punishment is the most effective way to teach or promote new behaviors that are more desirable or appropriate.
Whenever she sees a bolt of lightning streak across the sky, Maria quickly unplugs her computer equipment to keep the equipment from being damaged by an electrical surge. Using operant conditioning terms, the bolt of lightning is
a(n):
D) discriminative stimulus.
If you reinforce successively closer approximations of a behavior until the desired behavior is displayed, you are using the operant conditioning procedure called:
C) shaping.
After dogs have experienced inescapable shocks, they are placed in a shuttlebox in which they can easily jump over a barrier from one side of the shuttlebox to the other.
If the dogs have developed learned helplessness, they would most likely respond to another shock by:
B) doing nothing.
According to Focus on Neuroscience, neurons that fire both when action is performed and when action is simply perceived are called:
B) mirror neurons.
Mindy is in nursing school and is learning how to measure a patient's blood pressure. Her instructor first shows the class a video that demonstrates the proper procedures for measuring blood pressure and then demonstrates these same procedures using Mindy as a “patient.” Mindy and her class are learning how to measure blood pressure in patients through the use of:
B) observational learning.
Anthony is studying for his final exam the next day, but a friend calls and invites him to a party. Anthony really wants to go to the party, but he also needs a good grade on his final in order to maintain his standing on the Dean's Honor Roll and increase his chances of getting into medical school. Instead of thinking about how much fun the party will be, Anthony instead visualizes himself as a doctor, treating patients and performing surgery. What self-control strategy is Anthony using?
C) focusing on the delayed
reinforcer