Classical Conditioning

 

 

A light is turned on in front of a hungry dog a few seconds before it is given a small piece of meat. The first time this happens in an experiment like the one that Pavlov conducted, the light is considered to be _________________.

 

• the conditioned stimulus

 

• the unconditioned stimulus

 

• the neutral stimulus

 

• the preconditioned stimulus

 

 

In Pavlov’s well known experiment with the dog, salivation is ________________.

 

• the conditioned response only

 

• the unconditioned response only

 

• either the conditioned response or the unconditioned response, depending on the phase of the experiment

 

• the neutral response

 

 

“Eyeblink conditioning” can be used to demonstrate classical conditioning safely with a human volunteer. A puff of air aimed at your eye will naturally produce a blinking response. Using this reflex, what could we do to create a complete classical conditioning demonstration?

 

• Ring a bell just before the puff of air, until the person blinks to bell alone.

 

• Ring a bell just before the puff of air, until the person blinks to the puff of air alone.

 

• Ring a bell just after the puff of air, until the person blinks to the bell alone.

 

• Ring a bell just after the puff of air, until the person blinks to the puff of air alone.

 

 

Which one of the following vignettes is best explained by classical conditioning?

 

• Latisha is 18 months old and she loves to play with her daddy when he comes home from work. When she hears his car pull into the driveway as usual, she gets very excited.

 

• Sam hasn’t eaten all day. At about 3:00 in the afternoon, he is so hungry that all he can think about is a hamburger and fries.

 

• Sam is planning a road trip to California over spring break. A guy he knows, Anthony, wants to come along, but Sam remembers that Anthony is always complaining about something, so he lies to Anthony, and tells him that he has had to cancel the trip.

 

• Donna is sleeping soundly. The alarm clock next to her bed rings an alarm, and within seconds she is not only awake, but she remembers that she has a big test in just one hour.

 

 

In Pavlov’s well known experiment, a dog learns to salivate to the sound a ringing bell. Pavlov conducted many other studies, including one in which he studied second order conditioning. In this second order conditioning study, the dog was trained to salivate to the sight of a black square. What would Pavlov have to do to make the black square a second order stimulus?

 

• First train the dog to salivate by associating the black square to meat, and then train the dog to salivate by associating a bell with meat.

 

• First train the dog to salivate by associating a black square to meat, and then train the dog to salivate by associating the bell with the black square.

 

• First train the dog to salivate by associating a bell to meat, and then train the dog to salivate by associating the black square with the bell.

 

• First train the dog to salivate by associating the bell with meat, and then present the black square after the salivation, so the dog thinks of a black square every time it salivates.

 

 

 

A “startle response” is a natural response we all have to something that might hurt us, so people naturally wince when they hear a loud noise behind them. Imagine that you have classically conditioned a person to wince (i.e., show the startle response) when a red light comes on. Now you show a green light, and the person does not show the startle response. The person’s different response to the green light (no startle) and the red light (startle) is an example of _______________.

 

• extinction

 

• generalization

 

• optimization

 

• discrimination

 

 

One of Pavlov’s dogs has been trained to salivate when he hears a beeping sound. Which of the following situations would be most likely to lead to extinction?

 

• Pavlov stops presenting the meat after the beeping sound.

 

• Pavlov turns a light on before the beeping sound, and then presents the meat.

 

• Pavlov always plays the beeping sound before the meat is presented.

 

• Pavlov plays the beeping sound louder just before he presents the meat.

 

 

Brad and Angie fell in love one summer when Brad used to bring his golden retriever to play in the park where Angie liked to jog. The sight of a golden retriever always makes her think about Brad. But today, as Angie ran in the park, she saw a Labrador retriever, and she immediately thought about Brad. What happened?

 

• This is an example of spontaneous recovery.

 

• This is an example of stimulus extinction.

 

• This is an example of stimulus discrimination.

 

• This is an example of stimulus generalization.

 

 

Roger is an army veteran of four tours in Iraq. During his last time in Iraq, he was involved in several roadside bombing incidents, after which he began to experience a variety of physical and psychological symptoms that were later diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Which one of the following brain regions most likely to have been conditioned to initiate a fear response?

 

• The occipital lobes

 

• The amygdala

 

• The corpus callosum

 

• The motor cortex

 

 

Sally and James had a happy, satisfying relationship in the beginning. James would get excited just at the sight of Sally walking down the hallway. Eventually as time went on, they got along less and less and eventually broke up, not feeling the same exciting or passion they did in the beginning. A couple of years passed, and James saw Sally again walking down the street, and a feeling of excitement rushed over him. What most likely happened when James saw Sally walking down the street?

 

• Extinction

 

• Stimulus discrimination

 

• Stimulus generalization

 

• Spontaneous recovery

 

 

John Garcia classically conditioned rats to avoid certain stimuli, but found that other stimuli were difficult or impossible to use as conditioned stimuli. Which of the following descriptions best fits the results of Garcia’s study?

 

• It was easy to condition rats to associate a buzzing sound and a feeling of nausea.

 

• It was easy to condition rats to associate a distinctive taste and a feeling of nausea.

 

• It was easy to condition rats to associate a bright light and a feeling of nausea.

 

• It was easy to condition rats to associate a particular person’s face and a feeling of nausea.

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