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REVIEW QUESTIONS for B.F.SKINNER
1. B.F. Skinner was born in
a) Russia.
b) Germany.
c) Canada.
d) the USA.
2. Which of the following are attributable to B.F. Skinner?
a) the Skinner box
b) the teaching machine
c) a and b
d) none of the above
3. B.F. Skinner was an advocate of
a) positive reinforcement.
b) punishment.
c) operant conditioning.
d) a and c
4. Which of the following are criteria for operant conditioning?
a) the reinforcer must follow the response
b) the reinforcer must follow immediately
c) the reinforcer must be contingent on the response
d) all of the above
5. Which of the following statements is false?
a) Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool in shaping behaviour.
b) Skinner went by the name of Bill with friends, family and co-workers.
c) Skinner did laboratory research with rats.
d) Skinner was a musician, lawyer, writer and inventor.
6. Which of the following statements is false?
a) priming is getting someone to behave a certain way so that behaviour can be reinforced
b) prompting may have to occur until behaviour is strengthened by reinforcement
c) vanishing happens by removing prompts and behaviour is sustained
d) behaviour modification does not include operant conditioning
7. Schedules of reinforcement include
a) Continuous and Fixed Ratio
b) Fixed Interval and Variable
c) a and b
d) none of the above
8. Which of the following statements are true?
a) Skinner is a behavourist.
b) There are positive and negative reinforcers.
c) Attention, approval, appreciation and affection are all positive reinforcers.
d) all of the above
…/2
9. The presenters for the Educational Psychology Lesson on Skinner in Section 1 were
a) Bethany, Tonya, Brenda, Heidi, HeatherM
b) Dipsy, LaLa, Po, Tinky Winky
c) Peter, Paul, Mary
d) The Guess Who
10. Skinner’s writings on the weakness of schools include his opinion that reinforcement in classrooms is
a) consistent and functional.
b) inconsistent and delayed.
c) absent and not required.
d) not to be tinkered with
If you got the answer to Question 9 correct, then give yourself ONE BONUS POINT. That’s positive
reinforcement for the presenters.
Now add up your score out of 10.
If you got 11 out of 10, CONGRATULATIONS. Give yourself a pat on the back.
ANSWERS: 1-d, 2-c, 3-d, 4-d, 5-b, 6-d, 7-c, 8-d, 9-a, 10-b
1.Positive reinforcement:
A. Involves taking something unpleasant away to reward a behaviour
B. Involves giving something unpleasant after a response occurs to decrease the possibility
that it will occur again
C. Involves removing something pleasant after a response occurs to decrease the possibility
that it will occur again
D. Involves giving something pleasant after a response occurs in order to reward it
2.
A.
B.
C.
D.
The relationship in operant conditioning includes three component parts:
A stimulus, a response and a reinforcement following the response.
Punishment, positive reinforcement and extinction.
Shaping, a response and positive reinforcement.
Negative reinforcement, extinction, and a response.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Behaviour is least resistant to extinction when it has been conditioned by:
a fixed interval schedule
variable ratio schedule
variable interval schedule
b and c
3.
4.
The idea of removing a pleasant stimulus following a behavior is known as:
A. Extinction
B. Negative Punishment
C. Positive Reinforcement
D. Negative Reinforcement
E. Marriage
5. The process of rewarding successive attempts at achieving a desired behaviour in order to reach that
behaviour is called:
A. Shaping
B. Continuous reinforcement
C. Extinction
D. Reinforcement
6. Which of the following is an example of positive punishment?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Giving a student a star for a good grade.
Yelling at a student for running in the hall.
Giving a student candy to make them pay attention.
A student throws a tantrum upon giving them an assignment.
7.
A.
B.
C.
D.
The driving theory behind operant conditioning is that:
Behaviour is affected by its consequences.
Consequences have no effect on behaviour whatsoever.
If a student sees a teacher perform an action, they will be likely to repeat it.
People are motivated by their id.
8. Here’s one for the ladies! You want your significant other to mow the lawn. You decide to use
negative reinforcement. You would:
A.
B.
C.
D.
offer to let him have his buddies over to watch football if he does it.
threaten to turn his den into your office.
nag at him until he does it, then stop nagging.
make him go with you to the symphony orchestra (which he hates) if he does not mow the lawn.
9.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Skinner’s research endeavours included:
Project Pigeon
The Baby Tender
the mouse wheel
both a and b
both a and c
10.You have a boy in your class who is always hitting other students. Your best plan of action to
make him stop would be one that incorporated:
A.
B.
C.
D.
positive reinforcement
negative reinforcement
positive punishment
b or c; they would be equally effective
Multiple Choice Questions:
1. When is a token economy often used?
a)
b)
c)
d)
transportation venues
prison
families
religion
2. A behaviour followed by an aversive stimulus results in:
a) an increased probability of behaviour occurring in the future
b) a decreased probability of behaviour occurring in the future
c) the shaping of behaviour to a behaviour more desirable
d) the extinction of behaviour
3. Which schedule of positive reinforcement is best for maintaining behaviour?
a) variable interval
b) fixed ratio
c) variable ratio
d) fixed interval
4. Giving a student a candy after each correct response in class which causes an increase in the
behaviour of answering correctly is an example of:
a) Positive reinforcement
b) Negative reinforcement
c) Punishment
d) All of the above
5. No longer reinforcing a previously reinforced response (using either positive or negative
reinforcement) results in the weakening of the frequency of the response. This is called:
a) punishment
b) shaping
c) extinction
d) aversive stimuli
6. The schedule of consequences that is best for learning behaviour is:
a) Variable interval
b) Fixed ratio
c) Variable ratio
d) Fixed interval
7. If every time the child does the behaviour, he/she gets a reward, this is an example of:
a) regular reinforcement
b) continuous reinforcement
c) fixed interval schedule
d) variable ratio schedule
8. According to Skinner, shaping behaviour involves:
a) Successive approximations
b) Extinction
c) Aversive stimuli
d) All of the above
9. Every time a student raises her hand the teacher frowns at her. The behaviour and consequence in
this example respectively are:
a)
b)
c)
d)
strengthened and added
strengthened and subtracted
weakened and added
weakened and subtracted
10. In Question 9, the process described is:
a) positive reinforcement
b) negative reinforcement
c) shaping
d) punishment
Answer key: 1b 2b 3a 4a 5c 6b 7b 8a 9c 10d
B.F. Skinner has found that negative reinforcement in learning
A) usually serves to eliminate a response
B) has little or no effect
C) has the same effect as punishment
D) usually increases the behavior which it follows
According to Skinner, punishment is widely used in efforts to modify behavior
because it
A) is the most effective method available
B) is reinforcing to the punisher
C) has the advantage of increasing stress tolerance in those punished
D) weakens undesirable behavior, just as reinforcement strengths
3. When a person’s/animal’s behavior is reinforced by the termination or avoidance of
an aversive condition this is called
A) engaging in negative feedback
B) positive reinforcement
C) punishment
D) negative reinforcement
4. Operant Conditioning can be described as?
A) Positive reinforcement
B) Negative reinforcement
C) Learning based on the consequences of responding
D) all of the above
4. Extinction in operant condition is also subject to ______
A) successive approximations
B) shaping
C) automation
D) spontaneous recovery
5. When a reward follows every response it is called
A) controlled reinforcement
B) fixed reinforcement
C) ratio reinforcement
D) continuous reinforcement
6. Which of the following statement(s) is true in operant conditioning?
1. Positive reinforcements increase the rate of responding
2. Negative reinforcements decrease the rate of responding
3. Punishment decreases the rate of responding
A) statements 1,2,3 are true
B) statements 1,2,3 are false
C) statements1,2 are true and 3 false
D) statement 1 and 3 are true and 2 is false
7. Two mentally disabled boys seldom smiled at other people. A doctor used a procedure in
which he would take them for walks, and if they smiled at passersby, he would give them some
pieces of M&Ms candy. This procedure caused the two boys to smile more than they had
before. This is an example of:
A) bribery
B) punishment
C) negative reinforcement
D) positive reinforcement
8. What is an example of negative reinforcement:
A) scolding a child for talking in class
B) Coach patting a player on the back and saying “nice try”
C) Kicking a vending machine to produce food
D) Taking an aspirin to relieve a headache
9. Mild punishment tends to only temporarily _____ a response that is also reinforced
A) enhance
B) aggravate
C) replace
D) suppress
10. Skinner found that a pigeon reinforced for pecking at a yellow disk is likely to peck at
another disk similar in color. This is an example of:
A) discrimination
B) extinction
C) shaping
D) generalization
Bonus Question!
What do the initials B.F. in B.F. Skinner stand for?
A) Bartholomew’s Fergus
B) It is only a nickname
C) Billy Frank
D) Burrhus Frederic
(Reference:
Coon,D. Essentials of Psychology. 7th ed. Brookes/Cole Publishing Co.,1997)
www.montana.edu/wwwpy/Faculty/Whitford/100test2.html
1. Skinner developed the basic concept of…?
 A) operant conditioning
 B) conditioned reinforcement
 C) classical conditioning
 D) trial-and-error learning
2. Which of the following in not one of B.F. Skinner’s schedules of reinforcement or
punishment?
 A) fixed ratio schedule
 B) variable ratio schedule
 C) operant conditioning
 D) extinction
3. What is self-efficacy?
 A) self-depreciating behaviour
 B) one’s belief in one’s ability to perform a particular task
 C) one’s ability to be self-sufficient
 D) efficient work habits
4. Skinner’s idea of ‘Shaping’ involves…?
 A) reinforcement of successively closer approximations
 B) elimination of motivational factors
 C) an analytical study of ideas and doctrines
 D) reiterating the sequence of events
5. What is reinforcement?
 A) concrete suggestions to improve a student’s learning process
 B) positive coaching proven to motivate students to work towards their goals
 C) the process by which an organism learns to increase the rate of a response
 D) any type of feedback given to a living organism in a learning environment
6. If a child in being rewarded every 15 minutes, what type of schedule is being
used?
 A) fixed ration
 B) variable ratio
 C) fixed interval
 D) variable interval
7. When Sara’s disruptive classroom behaviour stops because the teacher and other
students no longer pay attention to the behaviour, the process is called…?
 A) stimulus discrimination
 B) extinction
 C) stimulus generalization
 D) punishment
8. Which of the following is suggested as a guideline for the use of punishment?
 A) do not use physical punishment
 B) do not give punishment mixed with rewards
 C) make it clear to the individual which behaviour is being punished
 D) all of the above
9. If the consequence of a behaviour is negative and the behaviour decreases, the
behaviour has been…?
 A) positively reinforced
 B) negatively reinforced
 C) conditioned
 D) punished
10. Jill was trying to teach her dog to roll over using Skinner’s theory of Operant
Conditioning. Every time her dog rolled over, she immediately said “Good dog.”
However, the dog did not learn to roll over on command. Why not?
 A) Jill used inconsistent reinforcement
 B) Jill should have delayed reinforcement
 C) Jill should have punished the dog every time he failed to roll over
 D) simply saying “Good dog” was not reinforcing