PREMIUM EXAM
ACE YOUR 2026/2027 NEU 338 ANIMAL LEARNING TO
CHANGING PEOPLE’S MINDS CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION:
COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE WITH COMPREHENSIVE QUESTIONS
ANSWERS GRADED A+
● Key feature of latent learning. Answer: Learning occurs before any
reward or punishment is given
● Tinbergen sand wasp experiment. Answer: Wasp learned nest location
using landmarks without reinforcement
● Why sand wasp learning is latent. Answer: Landmarks learned while
leaving nest with no reward or punishment
● Rat maze latent learning example. Answer: Rats exposed to maze
without reward learn it faster later when rewarded
● Difference between latent and associative learning. Answer: Latent
learning occurs without reinforcement; associative learning requires
reinforcement
● Insight learning. Answer: Problem solving by perceiving relationships
rather than trial and error
● Key feature of insight learning. Answer: Solution appears suddenly
without gradual shaping
1
,PREMIUM EXAM
● Kohler chimpanzee experiment. Answer: Chimp stacked boxes and
used stick to reach food
● Insight learning vs operant conditioning. Answer: Insight may involve
mental trial rather than overt trial-and-error
● Pigeon box-and-banana experiment. Answer: Pigeons combined
learned behaviors to solve a new problem
● Why insight learning is hard to prove. Answer: Cannot fully rule out
prior operant conditioning
● Learning sets. Answer: Ability to generalize rules or concepts across
problems
● Key feature of learning sets. Answer: Faster learning in new tasks after
learning previous similar tasks
● Concept formation. Answer: Learning abstract relationships such as
same/different or odd one out
● Example of learning sets in birds. Answer: Pigeons selecting odd
shape and generalizing to new shapes
● Alex the African grey parrot. Answer: Demonstrated advanced
learning sets and concept understanding
2
,PREMIUM EXAM
● Alex's training method. Answer: Model/rival technique involving
social learning
● Concepts understood by Alex. Answer: Color, shape, material, same vs
different
● Why Alex is important. Answer: Demonstrates abstract cognition in
non-human animals
● Imitation learning. Answer: Learning by observing and copying others
● Japanese macaque potato washing. Answer: Behavior spread through
imitation within troop
● Cultural transmission. Answer: Behaviors passed socially rather than
genetically
● Curio blackbird mobbing experiment. Answer: Mobbing behavior
learned by observation and spread culturally
● Why mobbing example shows imitation. Answer: Naive birds learned
response without predator exposure
● Imitation vs operant conditioning. Answer: Imitation relies on
observation, not direct reinforcement
3
, PREMIUM EXAM
● Animal culture. Answer: Learned traditions shared within social
groups
● Chimpanzee cultural behaviors. Answer: Tool use varies between
populations
● Cetacean cultural transmission. Answer: Hunting strategies learned
within pods
● Birdsong learning. Answer: Songs learned socially and vary by region
● Evidence birdsong is learned. Answer: Isolated birds develop
abnormal songs
● Law of equipotentiality. Answer: Any two events can be learned
associatively with equal ease
● Who proposed equipotentiality. Answer: Psychological learning
theorists such as Skinner
● Garcia effect. Answer: Learning is constrained by biological
predispositions
● Taste-aversion learning. Answer: Rats easily associate taste with
nausea
● Sound-shock association. Answer: Rats easily associate sound with
electric shock
4
ACE YOUR 2026/2027 NEU 338 ANIMAL LEARNING TO
CHANGING PEOPLE’S MINDS CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION:
COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE WITH COMPREHENSIVE QUESTIONS
ANSWERS GRADED A+
● Key feature of latent learning. Answer: Learning occurs before any
reward or punishment is given
● Tinbergen sand wasp experiment. Answer: Wasp learned nest location
using landmarks without reinforcement
● Why sand wasp learning is latent. Answer: Landmarks learned while
leaving nest with no reward or punishment
● Rat maze latent learning example. Answer: Rats exposed to maze
without reward learn it faster later when rewarded
● Difference between latent and associative learning. Answer: Latent
learning occurs without reinforcement; associative learning requires
reinforcement
● Insight learning. Answer: Problem solving by perceiving relationships
rather than trial and error
● Key feature of insight learning. Answer: Solution appears suddenly
without gradual shaping
1
,PREMIUM EXAM
● Kohler chimpanzee experiment. Answer: Chimp stacked boxes and
used stick to reach food
● Insight learning vs operant conditioning. Answer: Insight may involve
mental trial rather than overt trial-and-error
● Pigeon box-and-banana experiment. Answer: Pigeons combined
learned behaviors to solve a new problem
● Why insight learning is hard to prove. Answer: Cannot fully rule out
prior operant conditioning
● Learning sets. Answer: Ability to generalize rules or concepts across
problems
● Key feature of learning sets. Answer: Faster learning in new tasks after
learning previous similar tasks
● Concept formation. Answer: Learning abstract relationships such as
same/different or odd one out
● Example of learning sets in birds. Answer: Pigeons selecting odd
shape and generalizing to new shapes
● Alex the African grey parrot. Answer: Demonstrated advanced
learning sets and concept understanding
2
,PREMIUM EXAM
● Alex's training method. Answer: Model/rival technique involving
social learning
● Concepts understood by Alex. Answer: Color, shape, material, same vs
different
● Why Alex is important. Answer: Demonstrates abstract cognition in
non-human animals
● Imitation learning. Answer: Learning by observing and copying others
● Japanese macaque potato washing. Answer: Behavior spread through
imitation within troop
● Cultural transmission. Answer: Behaviors passed socially rather than
genetically
● Curio blackbird mobbing experiment. Answer: Mobbing behavior
learned by observation and spread culturally
● Why mobbing example shows imitation. Answer: Naive birds learned
response without predator exposure
● Imitation vs operant conditioning. Answer: Imitation relies on
observation, not direct reinforcement
3
, PREMIUM EXAM
● Animal culture. Answer: Learned traditions shared within social
groups
● Chimpanzee cultural behaviors. Answer: Tool use varies between
populations
● Cetacean cultural transmission. Answer: Hunting strategies learned
within pods
● Birdsong learning. Answer: Songs learned socially and vary by region
● Evidence birdsong is learned. Answer: Isolated birds develop
abnormal songs
● Law of equipotentiality. Answer: Any two events can be learned
associatively with equal ease
● Who proposed equipotentiality. Answer: Psychological learning
theorists such as Skinner
● Garcia effect. Answer: Learning is constrained by biological
predispositions
● Taste-aversion learning. Answer: Rats easily associate taste with
nausea
● Sound-shock association. Answer: Rats easily associate sound with
electric shock
4
