,PSYC 101 Module 8 | General Psychology Exam Q&A |
Portage Learning
1. Which process best illustrates the effect of developmental stages on the interaction
between instinct and learning?
A) Conditioning
B) Imprinting
C) Facilitating
D) Engulfing
Correct Answer: Imprinting
Rationale: Imprinting is a rapid, innate learning process that occurs early in development,
where young animals form attachments to moving objects, often the mother. It demonstrates
the interaction between instinct (innate predisposition) and learning (experience during a
critical period). Conditioning and facilitating are different learning processes, while engulfing
is not a recognized term.
2. Which process gives organisms the flexibility to survive in a changing world?
A) Learning
B) Reflexes
C) Instincts
D) Variable action patterns
Correct Answer: Learning
Rationale: Learning allows organisms to adapt their behavior based on experience, providing
the flexibility needed to survive in changing environments. Reflexes and instincts are innate
and fixed, while variable action patterns are not a standard term for adaptive flexibility.
Learning is the key mechanism for behavioral adaptation.
,3. Which of the following is a primary advantage of observational learning?
A) It creates imprinting in human beings and lower animal species.
B) It provides rapid adaptation to situations beyond our control.
C) It transmits information across generations within families and cultures.
D) It synchronizes behaviors, particularly between two unacquainted individuals.
Correct Answer: It transmits information across generations within families and cultures.
Rationale: Observational learning allows for the transmission of knowledge, skills, and
cultural practices across generations without requiring direct experience. This is a key
advantage for human survival and cultural evolution. Imprinting is a different process, and
rapid adaptation to uncontrollable situations is not its primary advantage.
4. Sleeping better the second night in a hotel than the first night after adjusting to the
environment is an example of ____.
A) Sensitization
B) Operant conditioning
C) Habituation
D) Classical conditioning
Correct Answer: Habituation
Rationale: Habituation is the decreased response to a stimulus after repeated exposure.
Adjusting to a new sleep environment by ignoring unfamiliar noises or sensations is a classic
example. Sensitization is increased responding, while operant and classical conditioning
involve different learning mechanisms.
5. A reaction to a given stimulus that requires no previous experience is referred to as ____.
A) A conditioned response
B) An uncharacteristic response
C) An unconditioned response
, D) A characteristic response
Correct Answer: An unconditioned response
Rationale: An unconditioned response is an innate, automatic reaction to a stimulus that does
not require prior learning. For example, salivating to food is an unconditioned response. A
conditioned response is learned through association.
6. What mechanism is responsible for the process of extinction?
A) The previously formed association is forgotten.
B) Spontaneous recovery replaces the association.
C) New learning overrides old learning.
D) An aversion is formed in response to the association.
Correct Answer: New learning overrides old learning.
Rationale: Extinction occurs when a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without
the unconditioned stimulus, and the conditioned response weakens. Research suggests this is
due to new learning (the CS no longer predicts the UCS) that overrides the original
association, rather than forgetting. Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of the response
after a pause.
7. When Roxie was a puppy, she would jump excitedly on anyone who entered the house,
receiving praise for her actions. Now that Roxie weighs 65 lb, Roxie's owner has asked
everyone who enters the house to ignore the dog until she settles down. This scenario
illustrates the use of ____.
A) Discrimination
B) Latent inhibition
C) Extinction
D) Generalization
Correct Answer: Extinction
Portage Learning
1. Which process best illustrates the effect of developmental stages on the interaction
between instinct and learning?
A) Conditioning
B) Imprinting
C) Facilitating
D) Engulfing
Correct Answer: Imprinting
Rationale: Imprinting is a rapid, innate learning process that occurs early in development,
where young animals form attachments to moving objects, often the mother. It demonstrates
the interaction between instinct (innate predisposition) and learning (experience during a
critical period). Conditioning and facilitating are different learning processes, while engulfing
is not a recognized term.
2. Which process gives organisms the flexibility to survive in a changing world?
A) Learning
B) Reflexes
C) Instincts
D) Variable action patterns
Correct Answer: Learning
Rationale: Learning allows organisms to adapt their behavior based on experience, providing
the flexibility needed to survive in changing environments. Reflexes and instincts are innate
and fixed, while variable action patterns are not a standard term for adaptive flexibility.
Learning is the key mechanism for behavioral adaptation.
,3. Which of the following is a primary advantage of observational learning?
A) It creates imprinting in human beings and lower animal species.
B) It provides rapid adaptation to situations beyond our control.
C) It transmits information across generations within families and cultures.
D) It synchronizes behaviors, particularly between two unacquainted individuals.
Correct Answer: It transmits information across generations within families and cultures.
Rationale: Observational learning allows for the transmission of knowledge, skills, and
cultural practices across generations without requiring direct experience. This is a key
advantage for human survival and cultural evolution. Imprinting is a different process, and
rapid adaptation to uncontrollable situations is not its primary advantage.
4. Sleeping better the second night in a hotel than the first night after adjusting to the
environment is an example of ____.
A) Sensitization
B) Operant conditioning
C) Habituation
D) Classical conditioning
Correct Answer: Habituation
Rationale: Habituation is the decreased response to a stimulus after repeated exposure.
Adjusting to a new sleep environment by ignoring unfamiliar noises or sensations is a classic
example. Sensitization is increased responding, while operant and classical conditioning
involve different learning mechanisms.
5. A reaction to a given stimulus that requires no previous experience is referred to as ____.
A) A conditioned response
B) An uncharacteristic response
C) An unconditioned response
, D) A characteristic response
Correct Answer: An unconditioned response
Rationale: An unconditioned response is an innate, automatic reaction to a stimulus that does
not require prior learning. For example, salivating to food is an unconditioned response. A
conditioned response is learned through association.
6. What mechanism is responsible for the process of extinction?
A) The previously formed association is forgotten.
B) Spontaneous recovery replaces the association.
C) New learning overrides old learning.
D) An aversion is formed in response to the association.
Correct Answer: New learning overrides old learning.
Rationale: Extinction occurs when a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without
the unconditioned stimulus, and the conditioned response weakens. Research suggests this is
due to new learning (the CS no longer predicts the UCS) that overrides the original
association, rather than forgetting. Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of the response
after a pause.
7. When Roxie was a puppy, she would jump excitedly on anyone who entered the house,
receiving praise for her actions. Now that Roxie weighs 65 lb, Roxie's owner has asked
everyone who enters the house to ignore the dog until she settles down. This scenario
illustrates the use of ____.
A) Discrimination
B) Latent inhibition
C) Extinction
D) Generalization
Correct Answer: Extinction
