Psychology in Action s2

Chapter 6: Learning

Testing your knowledge of idioms and other vocabulary

Here are some more American idioms, words used with figurative meanings, and other vocabulary items that you may not be familiar with. Match each item in column A with the appropriate meaning given in column B. If you are unsure, look at the sentence context given below. Remember that words may have different meanings in different contexts. The meanings given here are appropriate for the contexts from your textbook, but in different contexts the words in question might have different meanings. Answers are given at the end of this document.

Sentence context

a. Before Pavlov’s dogs learned to salivate at something extraneous like the sight of the experimenter, the original salivary reflex was inborn and biological.

b. … drooling at the sight of chocolate cake are largely the result of classical conditioning.

c. Watson criticized this focus on internal mental activities, insisting that they were impossible to study objectively.

d. Shortly after the Little Albert experiment, Watson was fired from his academic position.

e. Through higher-order conditioning, these attractive models then trigger favorable responses (the conditioned response/CR)

f. Have you noticed that people spend long hours pushing buttons and pulling levers on slot machines in hopes of winning the jackpot?

g. However, the fact that you occasionally win keeps you “hanging in there.”

h. To make matters worse, the manager’s inconsistency (saying “no” and then occasionally giving in) places the employees bad behavior on a partial schedule of reinforcement - and therefore highly resistant to extinction.

i. Like a toddler screaming for, a lollipop, or the gambler continuing to play despite the odds, the employee will continue the begging, screaming, and temper tantrums in hopes of the occasional payoff.

j. He (Wolfgang Köhler) believed there was more to learning¾ especially learning to solve a complex problem¾ than responding to stimuli in a trial-and-error fashion.

k. Although we can’t be sure how the hatred and racism that took James Byrd’s life originally started, prejudice of many types (racism, ageism, sexism, homophobia, and religious intolerance) can be classically conditioned.

l. Do you know someone who “freaks out” at the sight of a cockroach?

m. For example, one pigeon kept turning in counterclockwise circles, and another kept making jerking movements with its head.

Reviewing your knowledge of English grammar

In this chapter, the authors frequently employ a type of sentence pattern known as a “cause-effect” pattern, which we examined in Chapter 5. In other words, the first part of the sentence, (the dependent clause) sets up a type of a condition which causes or brings about a certain result or effect. This effect is stated in the second (or independent) clause. Note that these two clauses are separated by a comma. The words we will focus on here to express a “cause-effect” pattern are when, whenever, and as soon as. Study the sentences below:

CAUSE EFFECT

When a gnat flies too close to our eyes, we often blink.

Whenever we touch a hot pan, we reflexively pull our hand away.

As soon as infants feel a light touch on the cheek, they turn their head toward the touch

and search for their mother’s nipple.

Using the two pieces of information in each item below, write a sentence that expresses the cause-effect relationship. Use when, whenever, or as soon as to introduce the cause-effect relationship. When you are finished, you may check your answers in the answer key section. Be careful! The information may not be given in the correct order. You will have to decide which piece of information is the cause and which is the effect.

1. Your mouth starts to water / you see a large slice of chocolate cake

______

2. Nancy hears a loud noise / she thinks that an earthquake is occurring

______

3. You cry out in pain / you are stung by a bee

______

4. People see attractive models in an advertisement / they have a favorable reaction to the product being advertised.

______

5. People eat too much of a certain food / they develop an aversion

______

Finding key information

In describing a psychological experiment which has been carried out, the authors often present a chain of events that have occurred, one after the other. In other words, each event creates a condition which allows the next event to occur. To examine a chain of events, reread the section in this chapter called “Watson’s Contribution”, in which the authors describe the Watson and Rayner experiment with Albert. Compare what the authors have written with the following representation of the chain of events:

CHAIN OF EVENTS

Now look at the paragraph that describes the experiment that conditioned coyotes not to eat sheep. Determine the chain of events, and write it in the space provided below. When you are finished, you can compare your answer with the one in the answer key section.

Examining structural clues

In this chapter and in Chapter 5, we have examined the way in which cause-effect relationships are expressed. Remember from our work in Chapter 5 that you can recognize when authors are discussing cause and effect by examining the verbs and transition words which are used to introduce these relationships. Again, here are some of the more common indicators of cause-effect:

because, because of, to bring about, to bring on, to induce, to cause, a cause, to lead to, to be due to, on account of, as a consequence of, in consequence, for, for this reason, in this way, so that, in order to, and as a result.

Here are some examples for you:

Seeing food causes the salivary glands to produce saliva.

In Pavlov’s experiment, meat powder caused the dogs to salivate.

Due to the pairing of the bell with the meat powder, the dogs salivated when they heard the bell ring.

In this way, the dogs were conditioned to salivate to the bell.

Pavlov’s dogs were conditioned so that they would salivate at the sound of the bell.

In order to train the dogs to salivate at the sound of the bell, Pavlov had to pair the ringing of the bell with the sight of meat powder.

Locate 5 sentences in this chapter which contain a clear cause/effect relationship and write the sentences in the spaces below. Study your sentences to see if they contain the types of signals discussed above.

1. ______

______

2. ______

______

3. ______

______

4. ______

______

5. ______

______

Answer key

Testing your knowledge of idioms and other vocabulary

Reviewing your knowledge of English grammar

1. Whenever you see a large slice of chocolate cake, your mouth starts to water.

2. As soon as Nancy hears a loud noise, she thinks that an earthquake is occurring.

3. When you are stung by a bee, you cry out in pain.

4. Whenever people see attractive models in an advertisement, they have a favorable reaction to the product being advertised.

5. Whenever people eat too much of a certain food, they develop an aversion.

Finding key information

Examining structural clues

Answers will vary.

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