PSYC 3050 - EXAM 3 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Ethan was planning a trip to Washington D.C. in February and he wanted to visit the
White House. He submitted a request to his congressman, knowing that, nearer to the
visit, he would have to complete a background-check form. In November, the candidate
that Ethan favored lost the general election and, therefore would no longer be the
president in February, when Ethan planned to visit. Ethan is a big fan of the president,
but not a fan of his rival (who won). When the background check form arrives in Ethan's
mailbox in January, he does not fill it out. When the president lost the election, this
functioned as a(n) _______________________________ bc it decreased the value of a
specific reinforcer (the White House tour) and decreased a behavior that would yield
that tour (filling out the background-check form). - Answers -abolishing operation (AO)
A dog has learned to stay away from the invisible fence because, each time it
approaches it, a tone is presented. The tone signals that, if the dog continues to
approach the invisible fence, a shock will be presented. This device uses a
________________ (the tone) to decrease the frequency of leaving the yard. -
Answers -conditioned punisher
Reinforcers will not increase behavior above a baseline level if they are given away for
free; indeed, they are likely to decrease the behavior. This principle of behavior refers to
which of the four dimensions of reinforcer efficacy? - Answers -contingency
Habits are formed when an operant response has been repeatedly reinforced,
hundreds, if not thousands of times... - Answers -in the presence of the same
antecedent stimulus.
Which of the following is NOT one of the six principles of effective punishment? -
Answers -effective punishers involve physical pain; spare the rod, spoil the child.
If your boss offers to pay - Answers -immediacy
In one of the final scenes of the 2019 film, The Good Liar, Betty McLeish holds an
electronic banking device which allows her access to a bank account jointly owned by
herself and Roy Courtnay. To this point in the film, Roy has been swindling Betty of her
life savings but now she holds the banking device and tells Roy that each lie he tells will
cost him $50,000. He tells 3 lies which gets Betty $150,000. Roy decides to not tell
another lie. What procedure did Betty McLeish use to reduce Roy's lying? - Answers -
negative punishment
When Mia gets home from school, she has an hour and a half to do whatever she
wants. The following is how she typically spends her time:
eating a snack, watching a show, practicing piano, playing outside
, Which of the following is true based on the Premack principle? - Answers -watching
television will function as a reinforcer for practicing piano; playing outside will function
as a reinforcer for watching tv
Alexis got a new job selling - Answers -variable-ratio (VR) 10
When an operant response becomes habitual, it is evoked by ______________ even
when ________________. - Answers -an antecedent stimulus; an abolishing operation
(AO) has been imposed
When the residents of Troy chose to wheel into the city the large gift horse that the
Greeks left outside the city walls, they were surprised by all the Greek warriors who
came out and killed or seriously injured them while they slept. Something tells me that if
the surviving Trojans were faced with the choice of what to do with another large
wooden horse, they would choose to leave it outside the city walls. What behavioral
principle/procedure accounts for their decreased willingness to accept equestrian gifts?
- Answers -punishment
Which of the following statements is true about the evidence for individuals showing a
preference for experiencing punishment contingencies? - Answers -Individuals
sometimes prefer to experience punishment contingencies when the outcome is overall
access to more reinforcers (they are also experiencing reinforcement contingencies)
In Canada the cigarette manufactur - Answers -positive reinforcer
Under a(n) _____________ schedule of reinforcement, the faster one responds, the
sooner the reinforcer will be obtained. - Answers -ratio
Azrin (1960) studied the effects of loud noises on human behavior that was maintained
with monetary reinforcers. Throughout the experiment, participants earned money by
pressing a button. They pressed it pretty fast. Then he blasted the loud noise after each
button press. This decreased the rate of button pressing. When he later removed the
loud noise, he found that they started pressing the button as fast as they had before.
Arzin used a __________ procedure to decrease the future probability of button
pressing. - Answers -positive punishment
When given a choice between fixed-ratio and variable-ratio schedules, if the ratio value
is low (e.g., FR 3 vs VR 3), we don't prefer one over the other. However, when the ratio
values get larger (e.g., FR 100 vs VR 100) humans and nonhumans animals prefer.... -
Answers -variable-ratio schedules
In our everyday lives, we often talk about motivation as though it were an inner essence
that can explain behavior. Those who perform very well in school or on the job are said
to have high motivation (lots of that inner essence). Those who perform poorly are said
to have low motivation. When we explain behavior is this way, we are appealing to... -
Answers -mentalistic explanations of behavior
Ethan was planning a trip to Washington D.C. in February and he wanted to visit the
White House. He submitted a request to his congressman, knowing that, nearer to the
visit, he would have to complete a background-check form. In November, the candidate
that Ethan favored lost the general election and, therefore would no longer be the
president in February, when Ethan planned to visit. Ethan is a big fan of the president,
but not a fan of his rival (who won). When the background check form arrives in Ethan's
mailbox in January, he does not fill it out. When the president lost the election, this
functioned as a(n) _______________________________ bc it decreased the value of a
specific reinforcer (the White House tour) and decreased a behavior that would yield
that tour (filling out the background-check form). - Answers -abolishing operation (AO)
A dog has learned to stay away from the invisible fence because, each time it
approaches it, a tone is presented. The tone signals that, if the dog continues to
approach the invisible fence, a shock will be presented. This device uses a
________________ (the tone) to decrease the frequency of leaving the yard. -
Answers -conditioned punisher
Reinforcers will not increase behavior above a baseline level if they are given away for
free; indeed, they are likely to decrease the behavior. This principle of behavior refers to
which of the four dimensions of reinforcer efficacy? - Answers -contingency
Habits are formed when an operant response has been repeatedly reinforced,
hundreds, if not thousands of times... - Answers -in the presence of the same
antecedent stimulus.
Which of the following is NOT one of the six principles of effective punishment? -
Answers -effective punishers involve physical pain; spare the rod, spoil the child.
If your boss offers to pay - Answers -immediacy
In one of the final scenes of the 2019 film, The Good Liar, Betty McLeish holds an
electronic banking device which allows her access to a bank account jointly owned by
herself and Roy Courtnay. To this point in the film, Roy has been swindling Betty of her
life savings but now she holds the banking device and tells Roy that each lie he tells will
cost him $50,000. He tells 3 lies which gets Betty $150,000. Roy decides to not tell
another lie. What procedure did Betty McLeish use to reduce Roy's lying? - Answers -
negative punishment
When Mia gets home from school, she has an hour and a half to do whatever she
wants. The following is how she typically spends her time:
eating a snack, watching a show, practicing piano, playing outside
, Which of the following is true based on the Premack principle? - Answers -watching
television will function as a reinforcer for practicing piano; playing outside will function
as a reinforcer for watching tv
Alexis got a new job selling - Answers -variable-ratio (VR) 10
When an operant response becomes habitual, it is evoked by ______________ even
when ________________. - Answers -an antecedent stimulus; an abolishing operation
(AO) has been imposed
When the residents of Troy chose to wheel into the city the large gift horse that the
Greeks left outside the city walls, they were surprised by all the Greek warriors who
came out and killed or seriously injured them while they slept. Something tells me that if
the surviving Trojans were faced with the choice of what to do with another large
wooden horse, they would choose to leave it outside the city walls. What behavioral
principle/procedure accounts for their decreased willingness to accept equestrian gifts?
- Answers -punishment
Which of the following statements is true about the evidence for individuals showing a
preference for experiencing punishment contingencies? - Answers -Individuals
sometimes prefer to experience punishment contingencies when the outcome is overall
access to more reinforcers (they are also experiencing reinforcement contingencies)
In Canada the cigarette manufactur - Answers -positive reinforcer
Under a(n) _____________ schedule of reinforcement, the faster one responds, the
sooner the reinforcer will be obtained. - Answers -ratio
Azrin (1960) studied the effects of loud noises on human behavior that was maintained
with monetary reinforcers. Throughout the experiment, participants earned money by
pressing a button. They pressed it pretty fast. Then he blasted the loud noise after each
button press. This decreased the rate of button pressing. When he later removed the
loud noise, he found that they started pressing the button as fast as they had before.
Arzin used a __________ procedure to decrease the future probability of button
pressing. - Answers -positive punishment
When given a choice between fixed-ratio and variable-ratio schedules, if the ratio value
is low (e.g., FR 3 vs VR 3), we don't prefer one over the other. However, when the ratio
values get larger (e.g., FR 100 vs VR 100) humans and nonhumans animals prefer.... -
Answers -variable-ratio schedules
In our everyday lives, we often talk about motivation as though it were an inner essence
that can explain behavior. Those who perform very well in school or on the job are said
to have high motivation (lots of that inner essence). Those who perform poorly are said
to have low motivation. When we explain behavior is this way, we are appealing to... -
Answers -mentalistic explanations of behavior
