Chapter 4 Quiz

. Which of the following about theories is false?

They eliminate the need for direct testing of animals and humans.

They organize and integrate facts to form an explanation of a particular phenomenon.

They enable us to see new and counterintuitive ways in which variables affect phenomena.

They are developed in such a way as to be falsifiable.

. The Rescorla-Wagner model emphasizes the importance of

contiguity between the CS and US.

the surprisingness of the CS.

the surprisingness of the US.

contextual conditioning.

. The term "asymptote" refers to the

surprisingness or salience of the CS.

surprisingness or salience of the US.

limit of a learning curve.

upper limit of the learning curve.

. In the Rescorla-Wagner model, the symbol _______ refers to the limit of the amount of associative strength or learning that may occur.

β

V

Δ

λ

. Which element in the Rescorla-Wagner model is responsible for the majority of its successes?

α

β

λ

ΣV

. Which set of symbols is used to represent the surprisingness of the US?

α × β

α / β

λ− ΣV

ΣV

. According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, if the _______, then no conditioning of associative strength will occur.

salience of the CS is 1

salience of the US is equal to the salience of the CS

US is predicted

ΣV = 0

. Which operation in the Rescorla-Wagner model is most important?

α × β

λ −ΣV

decreasing α when λ − V is small

increasing α when λ − ΣV is large

. The Rescorla-Wagner model predicts the blocking phenomenon by predicting that

the salience of the new CS used to form the compound is nonexistent relative to the CS of the first training phase.

the salience of the US decreases as training proceeds, such that its salience is zero by the time compound conditioning trials begin.

the effectiveness of US decreases as training proceeds, such that its value is zero by the time compound conditioning trials begin.

the associative strength of the first phase CS equals the size of the US by the time compound conditioning trials begin.

. The Rescorla-Wagner model predicts that the associative strength of a single CS that has been conditioned to an asymptote and then completely extinguished will be

neutral or zero.

weak but inhibitory.

weak but excitatory.

moderately inhibitory.

. How would the Rescorla-Wagner model account for overshadowing in a situation in which a loud tone conditions better than a dim light when they are conditioned in compound?

The model would have to be revised, as it cannot currently account for overshadowing.

It would use a different λ for each CS.

It would use two different α's and two different β's

It would assume that α is greater for the more salient CS.

. In a third-grade classroom, Carla became an aversive excitatory stimulus to Kelly because she often embarrassed Kelly in front of other pupils. In the fourth grade, Kelly and Carla are again in the same class, but the new teacher will not tolerate abusive behavior. After six weeks, Kelly is no longer made anxious by Carla's presence. Kelly later joins a soccer team and finds that Carla belongs to the same team. According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, Kelly is likely to _______ about Carla's presence on the team.

feel anxious

feel excited

be unconcerned

be surprised

. In a third-grade classroom, Carla became an aversive excitatory stimulus to Kelly because she often embarrassed Kelly in front of other pupils. In the fourth grade, Kelly and Carla are again in the same class, but the new teacher will not tolerate abusive behavior. After six weeks, Kelly is no longer made anxious by Carla's presence. Kelly later joins a soccer team and finds that Carla belongs to the same team. According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, the teacher is likely to

be a neutral CS.

an inhibitor for Kelly's embarrassment tactics.

block Kelly.

be blocked by Kelly.

. In practical terms, protection from extinction is least likely to occur if an excitatory fear CS is

extinguished in one context.

extinguished in many different contexts.

paired with a new neutral stimulus and the compound is reinforced.

paired with a new neutral stimulus and the compound is extinguished.

. The Rescorla-Wagner model predicts that when a CS is preexposed,

the CS will form an excitatory association normally.

the CS will form an excitatory association slowly; it must first overcome a small amount of inhibition, thereby showing latent inhibition.

the US will be especially surprising and conditioning will occur rapidly.

the CS salience will decrease, resulting in latent inhibition.

. Two stimuli are inhibitors and predict no US. If they are combined with a third CS without the US, the third CS will

become weakly excitatory, confirming the Rescorla-Wagner model.

become weakly excitatory, in contradiction to the Rescorla-Wagner model.

remain neutral, in contradiction to the Rescorla-Wagner model.

be blocked in acquiring inhibition, consistent with what the Rescorla-Wagner model predicts.

. The Rescorla-Wagner model emphasizes the importance of the _______, whereas the Macintosh model emphasizes the importance of the _______.

US; context

CS; US

context; CS

US; CS

. According to _______, one's attention to predictive stimuli increases the more predictive these stimuli become.

the Rescorla-Wagner model

Mackintosh

Pearce and Hall

Wagner

. According to _______, one's attention to predictive stimuli decreases the more predictive these stimuli become.

the Rescorla-Wagner model

Mackintosh

Pearce and Hall

Wagner

. The process by which an event that is presented to a subject enters short-term memory is called _______-generated priming.

retrieval

transfer

episode

self

. In Phase 1 of training, subjects receive tone + light pairings. In Phase 2, subjects receive light + shock pairings. In Phase 3, the subjects are tested with tone-only presentations. According to Wagner's memory model of classical conditioning, the tone _______ produce a response similar to light as a result of _______-generated priming effects taking place in Phase 1.

should; retrieval

should not; retrieval

should; self

should not; self

. Modern discussions of learning and conditioning use the term "_______" to refer to a memory representation that is activated by a stimulus presentation.

network

node

connection

prime

. According to Wagner's SOP model of conditioning,

after the association has formed, CS presentations activate the US node to the A2 state.

an association forms only if the CS node is in the A2 state and the US node is in the A1 state.

each node is a prototype compound that contains the most common features of some event.

the changes from the A2 to A1 to inactive state occur in the connections between the nodes.

. The AESOP model assumes that

CS presentations activate both a sensory and an emotive node prior to conditioning.

the subject actually learns two associations—one sensory and one emotional—due to CS-US pairings.

the emotive nodes move between the A1, A2, and inactive stages more quickly than the sensory nodes do.

emotion is a long-term memory process while sensory impressions are a short-term memory process.

. Pearce's configural approach predicts that

context determines the amount of configural conditioning that will occur.

as the number of stimuli presented with the US increases, configural conditioning becomes more likely.

as the percentage of common elements increases, discriminations become more difficult to learn (e.g., A+, AB– is easier than AC+, ABC–).

positive patterning is more likely to occur than negative patterning when appetitive US's are used.

. The replaced-elements assumption of the SOP model

increases the predictive accuracy of the model over the Mackintosh model, but still fails to account for the configural effects explained by the Pearce model.

predicts that adding new stimuli to an established CS and removing stimuli from a compound CS produces symmetrical effects.

assumes that when stimuli are added to a simple stimulus to form a compound, all of the stimuli's elements are activated and processed together.

predicts that removing stimuli will dramatically reduce associative strength, whereas adding new neutral stimuli will have less of an impact.

Chapter 4 Quiz

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