PSY 450 Human Learning and Memory
Midterm Examination
1. Three of the following are examples of learning. Which one is not?
a. Abigail cries when she steps on a sharp pebble.
b. After many hours of heated debate, Brian begins to advocate political practices he has previously opposed.
c. Cara suddenly recognizes how the division fact “24 ÷ 4 = 6” is related to the multiplication fact “6 x 4 = 24.”
d. David has been running away from German shepherds ever since he was bitten by a German shepherd two years ago.
2. A theory of learning can best be characterized as:
a. A description of the results of a particular research study
b. A statement that describes what is occurring when a particular factor affects learning
c. The measurement of how much learning has occurred in a particular situation
d. An explanation of the underlying processes that explain why learning occurs
3. Three of the following are principles of learning. Which one is a theory of learning rather than a principle?
a. A behavior that is followed by punishment decreases in frequency.
b. People learn by making mental associations between new information and their existing knowledge which results in improved memory.
c. A response that is rewarded every time it occurs increases more rapidly than a response that is only occasionally rewarded.
d. Students tend to remember more of a lecture if they take notes on the lecture’s content.
4. Theories are advantageous in several ways. Three of the following describe advantages of learning theories. Which one does not?
a. Theories enable objective, unbiased reporting of research findings.
b. Theories help to condense large bodies of information.
c. Theories help practitioners design interventions that facilitate learning.
d. Theories provide an impetus for new research.
5. Which one of the following best describes how neurons transmit messages to one another?
a. By stimulating the growth of surrounding glial cells
b. By attaching themselves to the same terminal buttons
c. By fusing the axon of one with a dendrite of the other
d. By sending chemical substances across a tiny gap between them
6. After a severe head injury, Mary has exceptional difficulty setting goals and in other ways planning her actions. Without knowing anything else about Mary’s injury, you might reasonably conclude that it affected her:
a. forebrain
b. midbrain
c. hindbrain
d. cerebellum
7. 12 year old Tracy enjoys reading mystery novels and reads at least two a week. Her mother wants to encourage Tracy’s reading and so begins to pay her daughter one dollar for each completed mystery novel. Considering research regarding the extrinsic reinforcement of intrinsically reinforcing activities, we would expect Tracy eventually (by early adulthood) to:
a. Double her rate of reading mystery novels
b. Triple her rate of reading mystery novels
c. Lower her rate of reading mystery novels
d. Stop reading mystery novels altogether
8. In the process of lateralization of the right and left hemispheres, which gender would typically be more lateralized?
a. Both are equally lateralized.
b. Lateralization does not occur in humans, only animals.
c. Women
d. Men
9. In the human brain, a great deal of synaptic pruning occurs in early childhood. This pruning appears to be:
a. The unfortunate result of insufficiently stimulating home environments
b. An adaptive process that allows the child’s brain to function more efficiently
c. Due to an imbalance of important nutrients, and especially to low levels of the B vitamins in many children’s diets
d. Reflective of the fact that the forebrain is slowly taking over responsibility for functions that have previously been regulated by the hindbrain and midbrain
10. As children grow older, many of their neurons begin to transmit messages more rapidly than they did in the early years of life, thanks to:
a. synaptic pruning
b. neurogenesis
c. myelination
d. maturation of the limbic system
11. Bandura proposes that three of the following conditions are necessary for modeling to occur. Which one is not necessary?
a. Motivation to perform the behavior
b. Memory of the observed behavior
c. A relatively stress-free environment
d. Attention to the model
12. Three of the following experiences should promote higher self-efficacy. Which one probably won’t promote higher self-efficacy?
a. Andrea discovers that she does well on her weekly spelling tests only when she wears her lucky necklace.
b. On the first day of geometry, Bob’s teacher tells the class, “The things in your textbook may look difficult to you now, but with a little effort and practice you’ll have the basics down pat by December.”
c. Carmella does better in her Spanish class than she expected to.
d. Dick’s friend tells him, “You shouldn’t have any problem in American Literature. I’m no smarter than you are, and I got an A.”
13. Research and your text indicate that when appropriate precautions are taken, the most effective method of reducing inappropriate behavior typically is:
a. extinction
b. punishment
c. reinforcement of incompatible behaviors
d. an intermittent schedule of reinforcement
14. From the perspective of social cognitive theory, which one of the following most clearly shows a key ingredient of self-regulation?
a. Anne does her job so that she will get her weekly paycheck.
b. Bob is proud of the fact that he always keeps a promise.
c. Carol knows she will be tested on the information being presented in class.
d. Donald refrains from punching a classmate because he thinks his teacher might be watching.
15. Which one of the following alternatives best describes the disinhibition effect?
a. People may engage in a previously prohibited behavior if they see someone else being reinforced for that behavior.
b. People are less likely to engage in behaviors they have seen other people punished for.
c. People are less likely to engage in behaviors they have previously been punished for.
d. When people are punished for one behavior, they will tend to refrain from exhibiting that behavior; however, they will be more likely to engage in similar behaviors that are not punished.
16. In what way does the concept self-efficacy differ from such terms as self-concept and self-esteem?
a. Self-efficacy refers only to those behaviors we learn through modeling.
b. Self-efficacy results primarily from vicarious reinforcement and punishment.
c. Self-efficacy varies depending on the specific task to be performed and does not infer value.
d. Self-efficacy can be low or high.
17. Three of the following common criticisms of using behaviorist approaches are valid ones. Which one usually is not true about behaviorist approaches?
a. When a student who enjoys an activity is given extrinsic reinforcement for doing it, the student’s intrinsic interest in the activity will always decrease.
b. If some misbehaviors are reduced through reinforcement or punishment, other misbehaviors will always spring up to replace them.
c. Reinforcing a person simply for doing a task, without regard for the quality of performance, can encourage the person to do it quickly rather than well.
d. When an individual has cognitive deficits that interfere with performance, simply reinforcing desired behaviors will be insufficient to bring about important changes.
18. Which one of the following characteristics of behaviorist learning theories is a direct outgrowth of the equipotentiality assumption?
a. Rewards and punishments have equally strong, but opposite, effects on behavior.
b. Conclusions derived from research with rats are applicable to human learning.
c. All people have an equal ability to learn something.
d. Several different responses may be learned to the same stimulus.
19. Which one of the following statements best reflects behaviorists’ notion of tabula rasa (“blank slate”)?
a. Organisms inherit few predispositions to behave in particular ways; instead, the behaviors they exhibit are largely the result of environmental experiences.
b. Stimuli that occur after responses are made are usually more influential on an organism’s learning that stimuli that occur before responses are made.
c. The things that organisms learn in a new situation largely override the things that they’ve learned in previous situations; as a result, newly learned behaviors often replace previously learned behaviors.
d. Learning is more a function of what the environment does to the organism than of what the organism does to the environment; in other words, the organism plays a relatively passive role in the learning process.
20. Models can influence an observer’s behavior in a number of ways. Which one of the following behaviors is least likely to be the result of modeling?
a. Brad is punished for hitting his brother, but several weeks later, after seeing a child on television hit a friend, he hits his brother again.
b. Marcelle scratches his mosquito bites, even though his wife continually asks him not to, because it makes them feel better.
c. Aster is studying to be a dentist. Her older brother is a physician.
d. When Danny sees how much pleasure his best friend gets by being in the school chess club, he joins a similar group: the school math club.
21. Teachers and other practitioners must be very careful in their use of punishment as a means of changing behavior. Three of the following are potential disadvantages in using punishment. Which statement about punishment is false?
a. Punished behaviors typically decrease slowly, if at all.
b. Punishment can in some instances lead to increased aggression.
c. Harsh psychological punishment can adversely affect emotional well-being.
d. Punishment in the classroom can make students fearful of school and/or their teacher.
22. Which one of the following responses is most likely to be learned through classical conditioning?
a. Feeling anxious around horses
b. Taking a walk on a nice day
c. Doing homework
d. Waving to a friend
23. Which one of the following statements best illustrates the concept of reciprocal causation?
a. Individuals are more likely to imitate a behavior for which they have seen others reinforced.
b. Modeling can occur only when an individual is capable of performing an observed behavior.
c. People are unlikely to exhibit a behavior that will probably be punished.
d. The environment alters behavior, but behavior alters the environment as well.
24. Which one of the following is the clearest example of a child working for an incentive?
a. Arnold’s mother gives him a dollar after he surprises her by mowing the lawn.
b. Leaha decides not to talk in class because her teacher ridiculed her earlier in the day when she gave an incorrect answer.
c. Darcie stays out late, even though she knows she will be punished when she gets home.
d. Doris is studying for a history test with the hope that she’ll get an A on it.
25. Which one of the following instances of learning can be explained more easily by social cognitive theory than by instrumental conditioning?
a. Playing the role of a German soldier in the school play, Andy says his lines using a German accent similar to one he’s heard in the movies a few times.
b. Brad discovers that to get his teacher’s approval, he must turn in his writing assignments without a single error in grammar, spelling, or punctuation.
c. Craig finds that he gets one “special” girl’s attention when he shows off on the playground.
d. David has stopped trying in school, because he seems to get low grades no matter what he does.
26. Which one of the following is an example of vicarious reinforcement?
a. Alice notices that her friend Ellen gets extra attention from the teacher when she acts helpless. Alice begins to act helpless as well.
b. Bill knows that he will get a higher grade if he turns in a research paper that is typed rather than handwritten, but he turns in a handwritten paper anyway.
c. Lori sees her friend Lisa scolded for chewing gum in class. She quickly takes her own gum out of her mouth.
d. David sees how Justin gets good grades when he works hard on his mathematics homework, but David doesn’t want to work that hard.
27. Three of the following ideas are integral parts of social cognitive theory. Which one is not?
a. Learning can occur without a change in behavior.
b. Reinforcement has an effect on learning, albeit an indirect one.
c. Reinforcement can have an effect not only on the person being reinforced but on other individuals as well.
d. People’s behaviors are always the direct results of the specific environments in which they live.
28. Which one of the following is the best example of a social reinforcer?
a. Getting a new outfit you think is “cool”
b. Being allowed to play basketball at a friend’s house after you finish your homework
c. Being told that you did a good job
d. Feeling good about your own generosity toward a less fortunate classmate
29. Which one of the following is the best example of intrinsic reinforcement?
a. Getting a new outfit you think is “cool”
b. Being allowed to play basketball at a friend’s house after you finish your homework
c. Being told that you did a good job