PSYC 140 MODULE 1–8 EXAM 2026 PRACTICE
QUESTION SET ONE
◉ Unconditioned stimulus. Answer: A stimulus that elicits a
response, such as a reflex, without any prior learning Example, the
food
◉ Unconditioned response. Answer: A response without prior
training/automatic behavior, such as any simple reflex Example, the
salivation elicited by food
◉ Conditioned stimulus. Answer: A stimulus that prompts a
response only after learning has taken place Example, salvation
elicited by the bell
◉ Conditioned response. Answer: A response to a conditioned
stimulus, a response that has been learned Example, the food
◉ Acquisition. Answer: The gradual formation of an association
between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus Example,
when an animal learns that a bell predicts the appearance of food
◉ Extinction. Answer: A process in which the conditioned response
is weakened when the conditioned stimulus is repeated without the
,unconditioned stimulus Example, the dog hears the bell many times
and then learns that it doesn't mean food anymore
◉ Spontaneous recovery. Answer: A process in which a previously
extinguished conditioned response reemerges after the presentation
of the conditioned stimulus Example, after extension, starting the
metronome will once again produce the conditioned response of
salivation
◉ Stimulus generalization. Answer: Learning that occurs when
stimuli that are somewhat alike but not identical to the conditioned
stimulus (CS) produce the conditioned response (CR) Example, a
similar sounding bell may invoke salvation
◉ Stimulus discrimination. Answer: A differentiation between
somewhat alike stimuli when only one of them is consistently
associated with the unconditioned stimulus Example, dogs can learn
to detect subtle differences in shades of gray or in tones of different
frequencies/bell sounds
◉ John B. Watson & Little Albert. Answer: Watson was one of the
first researchers to demonstrate the role of classical conditioning in
the development of phobias Watson taught an infant named Albert
B. to fear neutral objects
,◉ Phobias & fear conditioning. Answer: Phobia: an acquired fear
that is out of proportion to the real threat of an object or of a
situation. Fear conditioning: the method by which organisms learn
to fear new stimuli. a form of learning in which fear is associated
with a particular neutral context. Example: Animals can be
classically conditioned to fear neutral objects
◉ Counterconditioning. Answer: a form of respondent conditioning
that involves the conditioning of an unwanted behavior/response to
a stimulus (like a phobia) into a wanted behavior/response by the
association of positive actions with the stimulus. Example, when
training a dog, a person would create a positive response by petting
or calming the dog, when the dog reacts anxiously or nervously to a
stimulus. Therefore this will associate the positive response with the
stimulus
◉ Conditioned taste/food aversion. Answer: an animal associates
the taste of a certain food with symptoms caused by a toxic, spoiled,
or poisonous substance. Generally, taste aversion is developed after
ingestion of food that causes nausea, sickness, or vomiting 1) After
eating a poisonous mushroom this woman vomited 2) and thus
learned to be more careful when picking wild mushrooms
◉ Biological preparedness. Answer: Some associations can be
learned more easily than other associations learned through
classical conditioning. these learned associations are evolutionarily
important in order increase chances of survival of individuals and
, the species. Example, some animals are genetically programmed to
fear specific objects
◉ Blocking effect. Answer: once a conditioned stimulus is learned, it
can prevent the acquisition of a new conditioned stimulus. happens
when a second CS is added to a conditioning trial with a previously
learned CS. Example: a dog has learned that a bell (CS1) is a good
predictor of food (US). Now a flash of light (CS2) accompanies the
metronome. There will be no prediction error, and the dog will not
associate the light with food because the light adds no extra
information. The food is already fully predicted by the metronome
◉ Rescorla-Wagner model (textbook). Answer: A cognitive model of
classical conditioning; it holds that the strength of the CS-US
association is determined by the extent to which the unconditioned
stimulus is unexpected. Example: an animal learns an expectation
that some predictors (potential CSs) are better than others, like that
the bell is more reliable than the flash of light
◉ Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning. Answer: A learning process
in which the consequences of an action determine the likelihood
that it will be performed in the future. A particular behavior leads to
a particular outcome. Example: We buy food to eat it, we study to get
good grades, we work to receive money
◉ Thorndike's puzzle boxes. Answer: Puzzle boxes created by
Edward Thorndike that assess learning in animals
QUESTION SET ONE
◉ Unconditioned stimulus. Answer: A stimulus that elicits a
response, such as a reflex, without any prior learning Example, the
food
◉ Unconditioned response. Answer: A response without prior
training/automatic behavior, such as any simple reflex Example, the
salivation elicited by food
◉ Conditioned stimulus. Answer: A stimulus that prompts a
response only after learning has taken place Example, salvation
elicited by the bell
◉ Conditioned response. Answer: A response to a conditioned
stimulus, a response that has been learned Example, the food
◉ Acquisition. Answer: The gradual formation of an association
between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus Example,
when an animal learns that a bell predicts the appearance of food
◉ Extinction. Answer: A process in which the conditioned response
is weakened when the conditioned stimulus is repeated without the
,unconditioned stimulus Example, the dog hears the bell many times
and then learns that it doesn't mean food anymore
◉ Spontaneous recovery. Answer: A process in which a previously
extinguished conditioned response reemerges after the presentation
of the conditioned stimulus Example, after extension, starting the
metronome will once again produce the conditioned response of
salivation
◉ Stimulus generalization. Answer: Learning that occurs when
stimuli that are somewhat alike but not identical to the conditioned
stimulus (CS) produce the conditioned response (CR) Example, a
similar sounding bell may invoke salvation
◉ Stimulus discrimination. Answer: A differentiation between
somewhat alike stimuli when only one of them is consistently
associated with the unconditioned stimulus Example, dogs can learn
to detect subtle differences in shades of gray or in tones of different
frequencies/bell sounds
◉ John B. Watson & Little Albert. Answer: Watson was one of the
first researchers to demonstrate the role of classical conditioning in
the development of phobias Watson taught an infant named Albert
B. to fear neutral objects
,◉ Phobias & fear conditioning. Answer: Phobia: an acquired fear
that is out of proportion to the real threat of an object or of a
situation. Fear conditioning: the method by which organisms learn
to fear new stimuli. a form of learning in which fear is associated
with a particular neutral context. Example: Animals can be
classically conditioned to fear neutral objects
◉ Counterconditioning. Answer: a form of respondent conditioning
that involves the conditioning of an unwanted behavior/response to
a stimulus (like a phobia) into a wanted behavior/response by the
association of positive actions with the stimulus. Example, when
training a dog, a person would create a positive response by petting
or calming the dog, when the dog reacts anxiously or nervously to a
stimulus. Therefore this will associate the positive response with the
stimulus
◉ Conditioned taste/food aversion. Answer: an animal associates
the taste of a certain food with symptoms caused by a toxic, spoiled,
or poisonous substance. Generally, taste aversion is developed after
ingestion of food that causes nausea, sickness, or vomiting 1) After
eating a poisonous mushroom this woman vomited 2) and thus
learned to be more careful when picking wild mushrooms
◉ Biological preparedness. Answer: Some associations can be
learned more easily than other associations learned through
classical conditioning. these learned associations are evolutionarily
important in order increase chances of survival of individuals and
, the species. Example, some animals are genetically programmed to
fear specific objects
◉ Blocking effect. Answer: once a conditioned stimulus is learned, it
can prevent the acquisition of a new conditioned stimulus. happens
when a second CS is added to a conditioning trial with a previously
learned CS. Example: a dog has learned that a bell (CS1) is a good
predictor of food (US). Now a flash of light (CS2) accompanies the
metronome. There will be no prediction error, and the dog will not
associate the light with food because the light adds no extra
information. The food is already fully predicted by the metronome
◉ Rescorla-Wagner model (textbook). Answer: A cognitive model of
classical conditioning; it holds that the strength of the CS-US
association is determined by the extent to which the unconditioned
stimulus is unexpected. Example: an animal learns an expectation
that some predictors (potential CSs) are better than others, like that
the bell is more reliable than the flash of light
◉ Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning. Answer: A learning process
in which the consequences of an action determine the likelihood
that it will be performed in the future. A particular behavior leads to
a particular outcome. Example: We buy food to eat it, we study to get
good grades, we work to receive money
◉ Thorndike's puzzle boxes. Answer: Puzzle boxes created by
Edward Thorndike that assess learning in animals
