Chapter 7 Multiple Choice Questions 1. Deprivation of food ____ overall activity level and ____ the vigor of an instrumental response. a. increases; increases b. increases; decreases c. decreases; increases d. decreases; decreases Answer: a. increases; increases Rationale: Deprivation of food typically leads to an increase in overall activity level as an organism seeks out food to alleviate hunger. Additionally, when deprived of food, the vigor of an instrumental response, such as pressing a lever to obtain food, also increases as the organism becomes more motivated to obtain the necessary reinforcement (food). 2. Deprivation of food ____ the effectiveness of shock in suppressing behavior. a. increases b. decreases c. can increase or decrease d. has no effect on Answer: b. decreases Rationale: Deprivation of food reduces the effectiveness of shock in suppressing behavior. When an organism is deprived of food, its primary motivation is to seek food, which diminishes the impact of other aversive stimuli like shock in modifying behavior. 3. Delaying positive reinforcement ____ its effectiveness; delaying negative reinforcement ____ its effectiveness. a. increases; increases b. increases; decreases c. decreases; increases d. decreases; decreases Answer: d. decreases; decreases Rationale: Delaying positive reinforcement reduces its effectiveness because the reinforcement becomes less temporally associated with the behavior it's intended to reinforce. Similarly, delaying negative reinforcement also decreases its effectiveness because the removal of an aversive stimulus is less clearly linked to the behavior being reinforced. 4. Increasing the intensity of positive reinforcement ____ the frequency of behavior; increasing the intensity of positive punishment ____ the frequency of behavior. a. increases; increases b. increases; decreases c. decreases; increases d. decreases; decreases Answer: b. increases; decreases Rationale: Increasing the intensity of positive reinforcement increases the frequency of behavior because the stronger reinforcement strengthens the association between the behavior and the reward. However, increasing the intensity of positive punishment decreases the frequency of behavior as it adds an aversive consequence, discouraging the behavior. 5. In comparison to continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement ____ resistance to the extinction process. a. increases b. decreases c. can increase or decrease d. has no effect on Answer: a. increases Rationale: Intermittent reinforcement, where rewards are given only occasionally, leads to greater resistance to extinction compared to continuous reinforcement. This is because intermittent reinforcement creates a more persistent association between the behavior and the reward, making it more resistant to extinction when the reinforcement is discontinued. 6. Prior exposure to intermittent punishment ____ the effectiveness of subsequent continuous punishment. a. increases b. decreases c. can increase or decrease d. has no effect on Answer: b. decreases Rationale: Prior exposure to intermittent punishment reduces the effectiveness of subsequent continuous punishment. This is because intermittent punishment may confuse the subject regarding which behaviors are being punished, making the association between behavior and punishment less clear. 7. In Seligman’s learned helplessness research, prior exposure to ____ events resulted in less adaptive responding to ____ events. a. contingent; contingent b. contingent; non-contingent c. non-contingent; contingent d. non-contingent; non-contingent Answer: c. non-contingent; contingent Rationale: Seligman's learned helplessness experiments showed that prior exposure to non-contingent events (events not controlled by the individual's actions) resulted in less adaptive responding to subsequent contingent events (events that can be controlled by the individual's actions). This is because exposure to non-contingent events can lead individuals to perceive a lack of control over their environment, impairing their ability to learn and respond adaptively to subsequent events. 8. Solomon and Wynne demonstrated that a very intense shock resulted in a. freezing. b. a low rate of avoidance. c. a very high rate of avoidance. d. the usual amount of avoidance. Answer: c. a very high rate of avoidance. Rationale: Solomon and Wynne demonstrated that a very intense shock resulted in a very high rate of avoidance. This finding suggests that organisms are highly motivated to avoid intense aversive stimuli, leading to increased avoidance behavior. 9. The two factors in two-factor theory are a. classical and instrumental conditioning. b. positive and negative reinforcement. c. avoidance and escape. d. generalization and discrimination. Answer: c. avoidance and escape. Rationale: Two-factor theory proposes that avoidance learning involves two distinct processes: classical conditioning (association of a neutral stimulus with an aversive stimulus) and instrumental conditioning (learning to make a response to avoid or escape from the aversive stimulus). Therefore, the two factors in two-factor theory are avoidance and escape. 10. Bower, Starr, and Lazarowitz demonstrated that the role of offset of the warning stimulus is to provide a. primary reinforcement. b. secondary reinforcement. c. negative reinforcement. d. feedback. Answer: d. feedback. Rationale: Bower, Starr, and Lazarowitz demonstrated that the role of the offset of the warning stimulus is to provide feedback. The offset of the warning stimulus signals the end of a period during which the organism can respond to avoid an aversive event, providing feedback on the effectiveness of the response and facilitating learning. 11. Continuous reinforcement with large magnitude rewards results in ____ extinction than continuous reinforcement with small magnitude rewards; intermittent reinforcement with large magnitude rewards results in ____ extinction than intermittent reinforcement with large magnitude rewards. a. faster; faster b. faster; slower c. slower; faster d. slower; slower Answer: b. faster; slower Rationale: Continuous reinforcement with large magnitude rewards leads to faster extinction because when the reward is consistently given after each response, the subject quickly learns the association between the behavior and the reward. If the reward is then removed, the subject quickly realizes the behavior is no longer effective in obtaining the reward, resulting in faster extinction. On the other hand, intermittent reinforcement with large magnitude rewards leads to slower extinction because the subject is reinforced only occasionally for the behavior, making it more resistant to extinction due to the unpredictability of the reward. 12. Prior exposure to shocks of increasing intensity ____ the effectiveness of subsequent punishment with an intense shock. a. increases b. decreases c. can increase or decrease d. has no effect on Answer: b. decreases Rationale: Prior exposure to shocks of increasing intensity decreases the effectiveness of subsequent punishment with an intense shock due to a process known as habituation or desensitization. When individuals are exposed to gradually increasing levels of a stimulus, they become accustomed to it, and the stimulus loses its aversive impact over time. As a result, when a more intense shock is administered as a punishment, individuals who have been habituated to lesser shocks may not find the intense shock as aversive, reducing its effectiveness in deterring behavior. Test Bank for Adaptive Learning and the Human Condition Jeffrey C. Levy 9780205950775
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