CHAPTER 5: REINFORCEMENT, PSYC
387 LEARNING: UNIT 3 (CHAPTERS 5-6),
PSYCH 387 UNIT 3 AC. EXAM
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. VERIFIED
2025/2026.
1. E. L. Thorndike's studies of learning started as an attempt to understand _______.
a. operant conditioning
b. the psychic reflex
c. animal intelligence
d. maze learning - ANS animal intelligence
Thorndike complained that _______ evidence provided a "supernormal psychology of animals."
a. anecdotal
b. case study
c. informal experimental
d. intuitive - ANS Anecdotal
In one of Thorndike's puzzle boxes, a door would fall open when a cat stepped on a treadle, thus
allowing the cat to reach food outside the box. Eventually the cat would step on the treadle as
soon as it was put into the box. Thorndike concluded that ________.
1 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
,a. the reasoning ability of cats is quite remarkable
b. treadle stepping increased because it had a "satisfying effect"
c. the treadle is a CS for stepping
d. learning meant connecting the treadle with freedom and food - ANS treadle stepping
increased because it had a "satisfying effect"
Thorndike plotted the results of his puzzle box experiments as graphs. The resulting curves show
a _____ with succeeding trials.
a. decrease in time
b. decrease in errors
c. change in topography
d. increase in the rate of behavior - ANS decrease in time
The law of effect says that _______.
a. satisfying consequences are more powerful than annoying consequences
b. behavior is a function of its consequences
c. how an organism perceives events is more important than the events themselves
d. effective behavior drives out ineffective behavior - ANS Behavior is a function of its
consequences
Thorndike made important contributions to all of the following fields except _____.
a. educational psychology
b. animal learning
c. social psychology
d. psychological testing - ANS Social psychology
Thorndike emphasized that we learn mainly from _______.
2 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
, a. errors
b. repeated trials
c. success
d. social experiences - ANS Success
Operant learning is sometimes called ________ learning.
a. free
b. higher-order
c. instrumental
d. reward - ANS Instrumental
________ gave Skinner's experimental chamber the name, "Skinner box."
a. Fred Keller
b. E. L. Thorndike
c. John Watson
d. Clark Hull - ANS Clark Hull
Operant learning may also be referred to as _______.
a. trial-and-error learning
b. effects learning
c. non-Pavlovian conditioning
d. instrumental learning - ANS Instrumental learning
Mary's grandmother, Pearl, is from the Old Country. Although she knows some English, she
continues to speak her native tongue. Pearl can't go anywhere without a member of the family
because she can't communicate with people about prices, directions, bus routes, etc. Pearl's
resistance to learning English is most likely the result of ______.
3 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
387 LEARNING: UNIT 3 (CHAPTERS 5-6),
PSYCH 387 UNIT 3 AC. EXAM
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. VERIFIED
2025/2026.
1. E. L. Thorndike's studies of learning started as an attempt to understand _______.
a. operant conditioning
b. the psychic reflex
c. animal intelligence
d. maze learning - ANS animal intelligence
Thorndike complained that _______ evidence provided a "supernormal psychology of animals."
a. anecdotal
b. case study
c. informal experimental
d. intuitive - ANS Anecdotal
In one of Thorndike's puzzle boxes, a door would fall open when a cat stepped on a treadle, thus
allowing the cat to reach food outside the box. Eventually the cat would step on the treadle as
soon as it was put into the box. Thorndike concluded that ________.
1 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
,a. the reasoning ability of cats is quite remarkable
b. treadle stepping increased because it had a "satisfying effect"
c. the treadle is a CS for stepping
d. learning meant connecting the treadle with freedom and food - ANS treadle stepping
increased because it had a "satisfying effect"
Thorndike plotted the results of his puzzle box experiments as graphs. The resulting curves show
a _____ with succeeding trials.
a. decrease in time
b. decrease in errors
c. change in topography
d. increase in the rate of behavior - ANS decrease in time
The law of effect says that _______.
a. satisfying consequences are more powerful than annoying consequences
b. behavior is a function of its consequences
c. how an organism perceives events is more important than the events themselves
d. effective behavior drives out ineffective behavior - ANS Behavior is a function of its
consequences
Thorndike made important contributions to all of the following fields except _____.
a. educational psychology
b. animal learning
c. social psychology
d. psychological testing - ANS Social psychology
Thorndike emphasized that we learn mainly from _______.
2 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
, a. errors
b. repeated trials
c. success
d. social experiences - ANS Success
Operant learning is sometimes called ________ learning.
a. free
b. higher-order
c. instrumental
d. reward - ANS Instrumental
________ gave Skinner's experimental chamber the name, "Skinner box."
a. Fred Keller
b. E. L. Thorndike
c. John Watson
d. Clark Hull - ANS Clark Hull
Operant learning may also be referred to as _______.
a. trial-and-error learning
b. effects learning
c. non-Pavlovian conditioning
d. instrumental learning - ANS Instrumental learning
Mary's grandmother, Pearl, is from the Old Country. Although she knows some English, she
continues to speak her native tongue. Pearl can't go anywhere without a member of the family
because she can't communicate with people about prices, directions, bus routes, etc. Pearl's
resistance to learning English is most likely the result of ______.
3 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
