UNIT 4 AOS 1 SAC: Test
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS (20 MARKS)
Question 1
Some of the key areas of the brain that are involved in learning include the
A. Cerebellum; hippocampus; amygdala
B. Cerebellum; corpus callosum; amygdala
C. Cerebral cortex; cerebellum; amygdala
D. Corpus callosum; hippocampus; cerebellum
Question 2
Which of the following statements is true
A. The cerebellum is involved in operant conditioning
B. The hippocampus is involved in classical conditioning
C. The amygdala is involved in classical conditioning
D. The frontal cortex is involved in classical conditioning
Question 3
The term ‘adaptive plasticity’ refers to changes in the brain due to
A. Changes in the physical shape of the lobes of the brain
B. Changes in the number of neurons in the corpus callosum
C. Changes in the number and pattern of connections between neurons
D. Changes in the direction of transmission of neural impulses
Question 4
Another term for ‘Fixed action pattern’ is
A.
species specific behaviour
B.
reflexive response
C.
unconditioned response
D.
behaviour due to maturation
Question 5
Learning involves
A.
a lasting change in behaviour due to experience
B.
a more or less permanent increase in knowledge
C.
thinking and planning
D.
all of the above
Question 6
Two forms of learning in which the learner needs to be an active participant are
A.
classical conditioning and operant conditioning
B.
classical conditioning and observational learning
C.
modeling and operant conditioning
D.
one-trial learning and observational learning
Question 7
Classical conditioning requires that the response to be conditioned is
A.
a voluntary response
B.
an autonomic response
C.
a physiological response
D.
a reflexive response
Oxford Psychology Units 3 & 4
ISBN 978 0 19 556717 5 © Oxford University Press Australia
Question 8
In terms of classical conditioning, learning has occurred when the (___) can be elicited by the (___) without the (___)
being present.
A.
unconditioned response; unconditioned stimulus; neutral stimulus
B.
conditioned response; conditioned stimulus; unconditioned stimulus
C.
conditioned response; unconditioned stimulus; conditioned stimulus
D.
unconditioned response; unconditioned stimulus; conditioned stimulus
Question 9
Reinforcement may occur in classical conditioning by
A.
repeated trials where the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are presented together
B.
repeated trials with the conditioned stimulus presented alone
C.
repeated trials with the unconditioned stimulus presented alone
D.
repeated trials in which the conditioned response is elicited without the unconditioned stimulus
Question 10
Jessica’s family gets a new car and she notices that their pet dog, Jenna, gets very excited whenever a car pulls up
in the court in which they live. After about a week, she notices that Jenna stays calm when most cars pull up, but gets
excited when the new family car is parked.
Jessica is able to explain that Jenna has demonstrated
A.
stimulus generalisation followed by stimulus discrimination
B.
stimulus discrimination followed by stimulus generalisation
C.
operant learning
D.
observational learning
Question 11
Serena’s little brother, Ajin, was tired and hungry when they went to the supermarket a few weeks ago. After a while
Ajin started to ask for a lolly, but Serena’s mother said ‘No!’ After a while he began to cry and then screamed loudly,
Serena’s mother gave him a lolly.
This happened again last week and Serena noticed today that Ajin screamed as soon as they went in the door of the
supermarket. In terms of operant conditioning, what has happened to Serena mother and Ajin?
A.
Ajin has been conditioned to eat lollies through response cost and Serena’s mother has been
conditioned to provide lollies through punishment
B.
Serena’s mother has been conditioned to provide lollies through positive reinforcement and Ajin has
been conditioned to scream through negative reinforcement
C.
Serena’s mother has been conditioned to provide lollies through punishment and Ajin has been
conditioned to scream through negative reinforcement
D.
Serena’s mother has been conditioned to provide lollies through negative reinforcement and Ajin has
been conditioned to scream through positive reinforcement
Question 12
Kerbie the beagle is being trained as a sniffer dog to find drugs at the airport. At first a tasty treat was put in a decoy
bag along with some drugs and Kerbie became very excited when she came near the bag. After a while a bag with
drugs but no treat was presented and Kerbie barked and wagged her tail. In terms of learning, Kerbie has been
trained by …………………………. and the excitement she shows when she smells the drugs is a(n)
………………………………….
A.
operant conditioning; reward
B.
operant conditioning; voluntary response
C.
classical conditioning; unconditioned response
D.
classical conditioning; conditioned response
Questions 13 and 14 refer to the scenario described below
Rats were allowed to run around in an empty wooden maze for an hour one afternoon. The next day some food was
put at the centre of the maze and the same rats, along with some other rats, were released into the maze.
Researchers noticed that the rats that had explored the maze the previous day were much quicker to get to the food
than the other rats.
Oxford Psychology Units 3 & 4
ISBN 978 0 19 556717 5 © Oxford University Press Australia
Question 13
The most likely explanation of this is that
A.
the rats that had explored the maze before were more hungry because of the exercise running around
the maze the previous day
B.
the rats that had explored the maze had experienced latent learning, in which they had learned the
layout of the maze, but not previously solved it
C.
the rats that had explored the maze before were in familiar territory so they were not as scared of the
maze as the other rats
D.
the new rats were deterred from exploring the maze by the smell of the rats from the previous day
marking it as their territory
Question 14
The process by which the rats had acquired some knowledge of the maze is referred to as
A. Classical conditioning
B. Latent learning
C. Operant conditioning
D. Learning by insight
Question 15
Operant and classical conditioning may be contrasted in terms of the role of the learner because
A.
the learner has no control over the process in operant conditioning
B.
the learner has no control over the process in classical conditioning
C.
the learner has control over the process in classical conditioning
D.
the response is reflexive in operant conditioning
Question 16
Bandura performed many experiments in which children watched adults interact with a rubber doll ‘Bo-Bo the Clown’.
Which of these findings is consistent with Bandura’s observations?
A. children tended to be aggressive towards the clown whatever behaviours they had witnessed the adults
performing
B. children tended to be aggressive towards the clown when they had seen adults being aggressive only if the
adults were rewarded
C. children tended to be aggressive towards the clown unless they had seen the model punished for the
aggression
D. children tended not to be aggressive towards the clown unless they were rewarded for the behaviour
Question 17
In Bandura’s experiments, which of the following was not a finding
A. children who were rewarded for aggression tended to be aggressive towards the clown even if they had
seen an adult punished for aggression
B. children who were rewarded for aggression tended to be aggressive towards the clown only if they had seen
an adult also being rewarded for aggression
C. children who were not rewarded for aggression tended to be aggressive towards the clown unless they had
seen an adult being punished for aggression
D. children who had seen the adult punished for showing aggression towards the clown tended to show less
aggression towards the clown themselves
Question 18
Jason is learning to snow-board. He spends several hours watching replays of the last Winter Olympics before he
goes to the snow.
When he goes out on the slopes the first day, he finds that he can master the basic technique quite easily. According
to Bandura, Jason has
A.
achieved the skill by modelling his technique on the Olympic athletes
B.
achieved the skill by the process of observational learning
C.
paid attention to the Olympic athletes and retained a knowledge of what to do in his memory
D.
all of the above
Oxford Psychology Units 3 & 4
ISBN 978 0 19 556717 5 © Oxford University Press Australia
Question 19
Which of the following indicates the stages of insight learning in the correct sequence?
A. Preparation, incubation, inspiration (insight), verification
B. Preparation, inspiration (insight), verification, incubation
C. Preparation, verification, incubation, inspiration (insight)
D. Preparation, incubation, verification, inspiration (insight)
Question 20
A significant difference between insight learning and trial-and-error learning is that
A. Insight learning provides a gradual acquisition of the learned response but trial-and-error learning provides a
sudden and complete acquisition of the response
B. Trial-and-error learning and insight learning provide a gradual acquisition of the learned response
C. Insight learning and Trial-and-error learning provide a sudden and complete acquisition of the learned
response
D. Trial-and-error learning provides a gradual acquisition of the learned response but Insight learning provides
a sudden and complete acquisition of the response
SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS (15 marks)
Learning
Question 1
a.
Species specific behaviour is also known as a(n)
______________________________________________________
1 mark
b.
A child learns to walk after having learned to crawl. This is an example of behaviour due
to ______________________________
1 mark
Question 2
Gustav sometimes experiences headaches for which he takes paracetamol tablets – these work well and the
headaches become much less severe. One day he takes tablets and his headache clears as usual, but later he finds
that he took sugar pills, not the medication.
Using Classical Conditioning theory, explain why Gustav’s headache may have been cleared by the familiar action of
taking a tablet.
3 marks
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Question 3
What is Operant Conditioning?
2 marks
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Oxford Psychology Units 3 & 4
ISBN 978 0 19 556717 5 © Oxford University Press Australia
Question 4
i.
Identify two major differences between Negative Reinforcement and Punishment.
2 marks
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Question 5
ii.
Give two examples of strategies that can be used to make punishment more effective.
2 marks
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Question 6
Emily is trying to teach her dog to lie down when Emily calls ‘Drop’. At first she gives the dog a food treat when she
calls ‘Drop’ and the dog lowers his haunches slightly, after a while she gives the treat only when the dog sits, still later
she will reward the dog only when his chest touches the ground and after that only when he lies down completely.
i.
Presenting the tasty food-treat to the dog after he has done something good is referred to, in operant
conditioning terms, as ____________________________________________
ii.
The technique used by Emily is a strategy in
___________________________________________________________
1 mark
operant
conditioning
known
1 mark
as
Question 7
Xiang has been trying to fix his Playstation 2 for what seems like hours, without success. He just cannot work out how
he is expected to hold all those tiny screws in place at the same time and he keeps dropping them. Eventually he
searches the internet and finds a web-site with an instructional video. He watches the technician for a while and then
goes back to his Playstation and is able to complete the repair.
i.
The type of learning Xiang has shown is called
1 mark
_________________________________________________________________________________________
__
ii.
List, in order, the steps involved in this form of learning.
2 marks
_________________________________
_________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
Oxford Psychology Units 3 & 4
ISBN 978 0 19 556717 5 © Oxford University Press Australia
EXTENDED RESPONSE QUESTION (15 MARKS)
Learning may be intentional (deliberate, voluntary action) or incidental (occuring as a result of accidental and
unintentional processes).
Demonstrate the truth of this statement as it applies to Operant Conditioning, Classical Conditioning, Observational
Learning, Latent Learning and Learning by Insight.
(15 Marks)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Oxford Psychology Units 3 & 4
ISBN 978 0 19 556717 5 © Oxford University Press Australia
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Oxford Psychology Units 3 & 4
ISBN 978 0 19 556717 5 © Oxford University Press Australia