310 c cHAPTER 7: Learning

Chapter Review
Key Concept Quiz
1. In classical conditioning, a conditioned stimulus is paired with an 9. Activity of neurons in the ________ contributes to the process of
u­ nconditioned stimulus to produce ­reinforcement.
a. a neutral stimulus. a. hippocampus
b. a conditioned response. b. pituitary gland
c. an unconditioned response. c. medial forebrain bundle
d. another conditioned stimulus. d. parietal lobe
2. What occurs when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an 10. Which of the following mechanisms does NOT help form the basis of
unconditioned stimulus? observational learning?
a. generalization a. attention
b. spontaneous recovery b. perception
c. extinction c. punishment
d. acquisition d. memory
3. What did Watson and Rayner seek to demonstrate about behaviorism 11. Neural research indicates that observational learning is closely tied to
through the Little Albert experiment? brain areas that are involved in
a. Conditioning involves a degree of cognition. a. memory.
b. Classical conditioning has an evolutionary component. b. vision.
c. Behaviorism alone cannot explain human behavior. c. action.
d. Even sophisticated behaviors such as emotion are subject to d. emotion.
­classical conditioning. 12. What kind of learning takes place largely independent of awareness of
4. Which part of the brain is involved in the classical conditioning of fear? both the process and the products of information acquisition?
a. the amygdala a. latent learning
b. the cerebellum b. implicit learning
c. the hippocampus c. observational learning
d. the hypothalamus d. conscious learning
5. After having a bad experience with a particular type of food, people 13. The process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus
can develop a lifelong aversion to the food. This suggests that condi- results in a gradual reduction in responding is called
tioning has a(n) ________ aspect. a. habituation.
a. cognitive b. explicit learning.
b. evolutionary c. serial reaction time.
c. neural d. delay conditioning.
d. behavioral 14. Which of the following statements about implicit learning is
6. Which of the following is NOT an accurate statement concerning inaccurate?
­operant conditioning? a. Some forms of learning start out explicitly but become more
a. Actions and outcomes are critical to operant conditioning. ­implicit over time.
b. Operant conditioning involves the reinforcement of behavior. b. Implicit learning occurs even in the simplest organisms.
c. Complex behaviors cannot be accounted for by operant c. People with high scores on intelligence tests are more adept at
­conditioning. implicit learning tasks.
d. Operant conditioning has associative mechanisms with roots in d. Children learn language and social conduct largely through implicit
evolutionary behavior. learning.
7. Which of the following mechanisms have no role in Skinner’s approach 15. Responding to implicit instructions results in decreased brain activa-
to behavior? tion in which part of the brain?
a. cognitive a. the hippocampus
b. neural b. the parietal cortex
c. evolutionary c. the prefrontal cortex
d. all of the above d. the occipital region
8. Latent learning provides evidence for a cognitive element in operant 16. Which study strategy has been shown to be the most effective?
conditioning because a. highlighting text
a. it occurs without any obvious reinforcement. b. rereading
b. it requires both positive and negative reinforcement. c. summarizing
c. it points toward the operation of a neural reward center. d. taking practice tests
d. it depends on a stimulus–response relationship.
 Chapter Review b 311

Key Terms
learning (p. 266) acquisition (p. 269) reinforcer (p. 279) shaping (p. 286)
habituation (p. 266) second-order conditioning (p. 269) punisher (p. 279) latent learning (p. 288)
sensitization (p. 266) extinction (p. 271) fixed-interval schedule (FI) (p. 284) cognitive map (p. 289)
classical conditioning (p. 267) spontaneous recovery (p. 271) variable-interval schedule (VI) observational learning (p. 295)
unconditioned stimulus (US) generalization (p. 271) (p. 284) diffusion chain (p. 296)
(p. 267) discrimination (p. 271) fixed-ratio schedule (FR) (p. 285) implicit learning (p. 300)
unconditioned response (UR) biological preparedness (p. 276) variable-ratio schedule (VR) (p. 285)
(p. 267) operant conditioning (p. 277) intermittent reinforcement (p. 285)
conditioned stimulus (CS) (p. 268) law of effect (p. 278) intermittent reinforcement effect
conditioned response (CR) (p. 268) operant behavior (p. 278) (p. 286)

CHanging Minds
1. A friend is taking a class in childhood education. “Back in the old
days,” she says, “teachers used physical punishment, but of course
that’s not allowed any more. Now, a good teacher should only use re-
inforcement. When children behave, teachers should provide positive
reinforcement, like praise. When children misbehave, teachers should
provide negative reinforcement, like scolding or withholding privi-
leges.” What is your friend misunderstanding about reinforcement?
Can you give better examples of how negative reinforcement could be
productively applied in an elementary school classroom?
2. A friend of your family is trying to train her daughter to make her
bed every morning. You suggest she tries positive reinforcement. A
month later, the woman reports back to you. “It’s not working very
well,” she says. “Every time she makes her bed, I put a gold star
on the calendar, and at the end of the week, if there are seven gold
stars, I give Vicky a reward—a piece of licorice. But so far, she’s only
earned the licorice twice.” How could you explain why the desired
behavior–bed-making –might not increase as a result of this rein-
forcement procedure?
3. While studying for the exam, you ask your study partner to provide
a definition of classical conditioning. “In classical conditioning,” she
says, “there’s a stimulus—the CS—that predicts an upcoming event,
the US. Usually, it’s something bad, like an electric shock, nausea, or a
frightening loud noise. The learner makes a response, the CR, in order
to prevent the US. Sometimes, the US is good, like food for Pavlov’s
dogs, and then the learner makes the response in order to earn the
US.” What’s wrong with this definition?
4. One of your classmates announces that he liked the last chapter (on
memory) better than the current chapter on learning. “I want to be a
psychiatrist,” he says, “so I mostly care about human learning. Condi-
tioning might be a really powerful way to train animals to push levers
or perform tricks, but it really doesn’t have much relevance to how
humans learn things.” How similar is learning in humans and other
animals? What real-world examples can you provide to show that con-
ditioning does occur in humans?

Answers to key concept Quiz

1. b; 2. c; 3. d; 4. a; 5. b; 6. c; 7. d; 8. a; 9. c; 10. c; 11. c; 12. b; 13. a;
14. c; 15. D; 16. d.

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