PSY 1101 MIDTERM 2 QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE 2026/2027
Learning - Answers the process of acquiring through experience new information or behaviors
Associative Learning - Answers learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two
stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning)
Stimulus - Answers any event or situation that evokes a response
Respondent Behavior - Answers behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
Operant Behaviors - Answers behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences
Cognitive Learning - Answers the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by
watching others, or through language
Neutral Stimulus (NS) - Answers in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before
conditioning
Unconditioned Response (UR) - Answers in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring
response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth)
Unconditioned Stimulus (US) - Answers in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—
naturally and automatically—triggers an unconditioned response (UR)
Conditioned Response (CR) - Answers in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously
neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) - Answers in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after
association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)
Acquisition - Answers in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an
unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In
operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response
Higher-Order Conditioning - Answers a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning
experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus.
For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts
the tone and begin responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order conditioning.)
Extinction - Answers the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an
unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning
when a response is no longer reinforced
Spontaneous Recovery - Answers the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned
response
Generalization - Answers the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the
conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses
, Discrimination - Answers (1) in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a
conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus. (2) in social psychology,
unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members
Classical Conditioning - Answers forms associations between stimuli (a CS and the US it signals). it also
involves respondent behavior - actions that are automatic responses to a stimulus (such as salivating in
response to meat powder and later in response to a tone)
Operant Conditioning - Answers a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a
reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
Law of Effect - Answers Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences
become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely
Operant Chamber - Answers in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box)
containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached
devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking
Reinforcement - Answers in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
Shaping - Answers an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer
and closer approximations of the desired behavior
Positive Reinforcement - Answers increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers. A positive
reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response
Negative Reinforcement - Answers increasing behaviors by stopping of reducing negative stimuli. a
negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response
Primary Reinforcers - Answers an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological
need
Conditioned Reinforcers - Answers a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association
with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer
Reinforcement Schedules - Answers a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be
reinforced
Continuous Reinforcement - Answers reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs
Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement Schedules - Answers reinforcing a response only part of the time;
results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does
continuous reinforcement
Fixed-Ratio Schedules - Answers in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a
response only after a specified number of responses
Variable-Ratio Schedules - Answers in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a
response after an unpredictable number of responses
Learning - Answers the process of acquiring through experience new information or behaviors
Associative Learning - Answers learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two
stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning)
Stimulus - Answers any event or situation that evokes a response
Respondent Behavior - Answers behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
Operant Behaviors - Answers behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences
Cognitive Learning - Answers the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by
watching others, or through language
Neutral Stimulus (NS) - Answers in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before
conditioning
Unconditioned Response (UR) - Answers in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring
response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth)
Unconditioned Stimulus (US) - Answers in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—
naturally and automatically—triggers an unconditioned response (UR)
Conditioned Response (CR) - Answers in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously
neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) - Answers in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after
association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)
Acquisition - Answers in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an
unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In
operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response
Higher-Order Conditioning - Answers a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning
experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus.
For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts
the tone and begin responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order conditioning.)
Extinction - Answers the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an
unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning
when a response is no longer reinforced
Spontaneous Recovery - Answers the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned
response
Generalization - Answers the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the
conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses
, Discrimination - Answers (1) in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a
conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus. (2) in social psychology,
unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members
Classical Conditioning - Answers forms associations between stimuli (a CS and the US it signals). it also
involves respondent behavior - actions that are automatic responses to a stimulus (such as salivating in
response to meat powder and later in response to a tone)
Operant Conditioning - Answers a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a
reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
Law of Effect - Answers Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences
become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely
Operant Chamber - Answers in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box)
containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached
devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking
Reinforcement - Answers in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
Shaping - Answers an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer
and closer approximations of the desired behavior
Positive Reinforcement - Answers increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers. A positive
reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response
Negative Reinforcement - Answers increasing behaviors by stopping of reducing negative stimuli. a
negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response
Primary Reinforcers - Answers an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological
need
Conditioned Reinforcers - Answers a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association
with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer
Reinforcement Schedules - Answers a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be
reinforced
Continuous Reinforcement - Answers reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs
Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement Schedules - Answers reinforcing a response only part of the time;
results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does
continuous reinforcement
Fixed-Ratio Schedules - Answers in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a
response only after a specified number of responses
Variable-Ratio Schedules - Answers in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a
response after an unpredictable number of responses
