AP Psychology : AP Psychology

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Psychology

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Example Questions

Example Question #21 : Classical Conditioning

Which psychologist is famous for his experiments that involve dogs salivating in response to a bell?

Possible Answers:

B.F. Skinner

Ivan Pavlov

Sigmund Freud

Edward Thorndike

John Watson

Correct answer:

Ivan Pavlov

Explanation:

Ivan Pavlov is one of the earliest psychologists known for classical conditioning and is particularly famous for his experiments in which he got dogs to associate food with sounds, leading them to salivate when there was a bell even when there was not food present. 

John Watson was a classical conditioning psychologist who is most famous for his "Little Albert" experiment in which he trained a young boy to be afraid of a rat (or anything like looked like a white rat) because he made an unpleasant noise while presenting the rat. This research indicated that humans too could be classically conditioned.

Edward Thorndike came up with the law of effect, which states that positive consequences increase the likelihood that an action will be repeated and negative consequences decrease the likelihood that it will.

B.F. Skinner based his research off of Thorndike's law of effect and is considered to be the founder of operant conditioning (the type of learning in which the effects of an action determine whether it will be repeated in the future). He is most famous for Skinner's box-- a box in which he placed animals to conduct operant conditioning experiments.  

Sigmund Freud is not a psychologist associated with conditioning at all. Instead, he came up with psychodynamic theories that explained people's actions in terms of conflicts in their unconscious.

Example Question #23 : Classical Conditioning

Which psychologist is famous for his "Little Albert" experiment?

Possible Answers:

Freud

B.F. Skinner

Ivan Pavlov

John Watson

Edward Thorndike

Correct answer:

John Watson

Explanation:

John Watson was a classical conditioning psychologist who is most famous for his "Little Albert" experiment in which he trained a young boy to be afraid of a rat (or anything like looked like a white rat) because he made an unpleasant noise while presenting the rat. This research indicated that humans too could be classically conditioned.

Ivan Pavlov is one of the earliest psychologists known for classical conditioning and is particularly famous for his experiments in which he got dogs to associate food with sounds, leading them to salivate when there was a bell even when there was not food present. 

Edward Thorndike came up with the law of effect, which states that positive consequences increase the likelihood that an action will be repeated and negative consequences decrease the likelihood that it will.

B.F. Skinner based his research off of Thorndike's law of effect and is considered to be the founder of operant conditioning (the type of learning in which the effects of an action determine whether it will be repeated in the future). He is most famous for Skinner's box-- a box in which he placed animals to conduct operant conditioning experiments.  

Sigmund Freud is not a psychologist associated with conditioning at all. Instead, he came up with psychodynamic theories that explained people's actions in terms of conflicts in their unconscious. 

Example Question #21 : Classical Conditioning

If someone is classically conditioned to be afraid of violins and they are afraid when they see a cello. Of what concept is this an example?

Possible Answers:

Extinction

Spontaneous recovery

Generalization

Discrimination

Acquisition 

Correct answer:

Generalization

Explanation:

Generalization occurs when the conditioned response (fear) occurs even when the conditioned stimulus (cello) is slightly different from the original CS (violin). 

Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli.

Extinction is the cessation of the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented. 

Spontaneous recovery is the comeback of a conditioned response after extinction when the unconditioned stimulus is presented again.

Acquisition is the learning period of a conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus are being presented together.

Example Question #22 : Classical Conditioning

If someone is classically conditioned to be afraid of violins and they do not fear string basses. Of what concept is this an example?

Possible Answers:

Acquistion

Spontaneous recovery

Generalization

Extinction

Discrimination

Correct answer:

Discrimination

Explanation:

Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli (violins and basses). 

Generalization occurs when the conditioned response occurs even when the conditioned stimulus is slightly different from the original CS. 

Extinction is the cessation of the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented. 

Spontaneous recovery is the comeback of a conditioned response after extinction when the unconditioned stimulus is presented again.

Acquisition is the learning period of a conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus are being presented together.

Example Question #21 : Classical Conditioning

Suzie is classically conditioned to be afraid of violins because every time they are presented, they are followed by a loud, unpleasant noise. Then, a violin is presented ten times without the noise and she stops showing a fearful respoinse. Of what concept is this an example?

Possible Answers:

Generalization

Discrimination

Extinction

Acquistion

Spontaneous recovery

Correct answer:

Extinction

Explanation:

Extinction is the cessation of the conditioned response (fear) when the unconditioned stimulus (noise) is no longer presented. 

Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli. 

Generalization occurs when the conditioned response occurs even when the conditioned stimulus is slightly different from the original CS. 

Spontaneous recovery is the comeback of a conditioned response after extinction when the unconditioned stimulus is presented again.

Acquisition is the learning period of a conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus are being presented together.

Example Question #21 : Classical Conditioning

Suzie is classically conditioned to be afraid of violins because every time they are presented, they are followed by a loud, unpleasant noise. Then, a violin is presented ten times without the noise and she stops showing a fearful respoinse. If the violin is presented with the noise again and she begins to show fear again. Of what concept is this an example?

Possible Answers:

Extinction

Acquisition

Discrimination

Generalization

Spontaneous recovery

Correct answer:

Spontaneous recovery

Explanation:

Spontaneous recovery is the comeback of a conditioned response (fear) after extinction when the unconditioned stimulus (noise) is presented again.

Extinction is the cessation of the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented. 

Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli. 

Generalization occurs when the conditioned response occurs even when the conditioned stimulus is slightly different from the original CS. 

Acquisition is the learning period of a conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus are being presented together.

Example Question #22 : Classical Conditioning

Suzie is classically conditioned to be afraid of violins because every time they are presented, they are followed by a loud, unpleasant noise. Of what concept is this an example?

Possible Answers:

Extinction

Acquisition

Spontaneous recovery

Discrimination

Generalization

Correct answer:

Acquisition

Explanation:

Acquisition is the learning period of a conditioned response (fear) when the unconditioned stimulus (noise) and the conditioned stimulus (violin) are being presented together.

Spontaneous recovery is the comeback of a conditioned response after extinction when the unconditioned stimulus is presented again.

Extinction is the cessation of the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented. 

Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli. 

Generalization occurs when the conditioned response occurs even when the conditioned stimulus is slightly different from the original CS. 

 

Example Question #23 : Classical Conditioning

Suzie is classically conditioned to be afraid of violins because every time they are presented, they are followed by a loud, unpleasant noise. Violins are then presented with pictures of cats until Suzie is afraid of cats as well. Of what concept is this an example?

Possible Answers:

Second-order conditioning

Generalization

Discrimination

Extinction

Spontaneous recovery

Correct answer:

Second-order conditioning

Explanation:

Second-order conditioning is when the conditioned stimulus from a previous round of conditioning (violin) becomes the unconditioned stimulus for a new round.

Spontaneous recovery is the return or reoccurrence of a conditioned response after extinction when the unconditioned stimulus is presented again.

Extinction is the cessation of the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented. 

Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli. 

Generalization occurs when the conditioned response occurs even when the conditioned stimulus is slightly different from the original CS.

Example Question #31 : Classical Conditioning

A bell is rung each time a dog is given a steak. Soon, the dog salivates at the sound of the bell even when the steak is not presented. What is the unconditioned stimulus in this scenario?

Possible Answers:

The dog salivating at the sound of the bell

The bell

The steak

The dog

The dog salivating in response to the steak

Correct answer:

The steak

Explanation:

In classical conditioning, the steak is the unconditioned stimulus in this scenario. The unconditioned stimulus is the object that naturally provokes the unconditioned response (e.g. salivation to steak) without any sort of training or pairing. The unconditioned stimulus (e.g. steak) is then paired with the conditioned stimulus (e.g. the bell), which is what the experimenter wants the subject to associate the unconditioned stimulus with. Once the subject associates the conditioned stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus enough, they start to have a conditioned response (e.g. salivation to bell alone).

Example Question #32 : Classical Conditioning

A bell is rung each time a dog is given a steak. Soon, the dog salivates at the sound of the bell even when the steak is not presented. What is the conditioned stimulus in this scenario?

Possible Answers:

The bell

The steak

The dog

The dog salivating at the sound of the bell

The dog salivating in response to the steak

Correct answer:

The bell

Explanation:

In classical conditioning, the steak is the unconditioned stimulus in this scenario. The unconditioned stimulus is the object that naturally provokes the unconditioned response (e.g. salivation to steak) without any sort of training or pairing. The unconditioned stimulus (e.g. steak) is then paired with the conditioned stimulus (e.g. the bell), which is what the experimenter wants the subject to associate the unconditioned stimulus with. Once the subject associates the conditioned stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus enough, they start to have a conditioned response (e.g. salivation to bell alone).

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